Beauty

I've been trying to think of something I could write passionately about for the longest time, hence the lack of writing in here. I realize now what it is I have to write about: Beauty.
I've been noticing "beauty" in just about everything for the past two weeks. Maybe someone slipped something in my drink, or maybe the hormones are raging, or maybe I'm just learning to appreciate life more and more.

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I couldn't agree more. Beauty is a child. Beauty is happy. Beauty is sad. Beauty is God. Beauty is life.

Beauty is meeting new people and instantly feeling connected to them as human beings. Beauty thrives in the wee hours of the night. Beauty is the waitress at waffle house. Beauty roots itself in long conversation about faith and love under the stars on a cold night. Beauty is felt in long aimless car drives through neon cities with significant others. Beauty is chance meetings with someone you haven't seen in a while. Beauty is the company of beautiful girls-on the inside and outside. Beauty is an enduring friendship. Beauty is wine and sloppy crazed dancing. Beauty is a child compromising their wants for someone elses. Beauty is hugging a friend for the first time in months.

I'm not sure exactly where any of this is going. It's more or less just a stream of consciousness on some things that have been on my mind lately.

Tonight I worked from 6-close (12 am). Now when you work with Aaron, you have to expect to do two times the work you would normally do on your shift. He's just so into his job, he wants everything done perfect, every customer made aware of every sale/deal/promotion we have to offer, every midshift deposit counted 5 times. And its ANNOYING. It's so annoying. He rings up a customer and then talks to them about the pros and cons of widescreen and full screen formated DVDs (without them asking) while I handle the massive throngs of people waiting in line to check out, the phone ringing off the hook, and the kid trying to grab games that haven't been checked in yet. Tonight it hit a whole new level. He always cracks these really lame jokes and he's always WAY too happy to be at work. We were 5 minutes past closing when he decided it would be a good idea to reface all of the new release movie racks (50% of the movies in the store). On top of that, a guy called in after we were clearly closed and asked if he could run in to grab a movie. Aaron: "Of course buddy! Come on down! We'll be here for a while!". I mean why not.
I got out of work an hour later than I should have and only got paid for 30 minutes of it. But as Aaron was jovially tallying up the percentages of how many movies we rented from each section that night (not part of closing procedures, or any procedure for that matter), it hit me.
How could I be mad at this guy. He's getting excited about how many "Nearly New" movies we rented this shift. He genuinely loves the people who come in here. Aaron works full time, supports a family, and goes to school at NKU full time. And he's always happy. He never drops the trademark enthusiasm or smile. I looked at him with admiration for the first time. Not in a patronizing way. For the first time I appreciated him. I saw the beauty in him. I just looked at him and smiled.

I know these rose-colored glasses won't last forever, but I can hope and pray they will.