Free Essay On Quot;monsters" By Anna Quindlen

"Monsters" by Anna Quindlen first seems as a fantasy story telling about a young woman's son admitting to her that he has a monster under his bed. A short dialogue between the mother and her child shows that the son is convinced in the monster's existence. Eventually, the woman proceeds to recalling her own childhood and her every night routine of rushing under the blanket before the monster living under her bad could grab her ankle. Soon the mood of the story changes, and the woman talks about the lesson she learnt from monsters: monsters do not leave under our bed. They exist all throughout our lives, coming in different shapes and forms. Evil, selfish people, incapable of sympathy and understanding are the monsters we meet daily. The woman states that she is not to reveal the secrets of fantastic creatures’ non-existence to her child. All in all, some lessons we simply learn, not receive on a golden platter.
One day I was performing a routinely traditional weekly shopping in my local grocery store. It was Sunday, and the line at the checkout I pulled my shopping cart to was longer than a hundred French baguettes put in line one by one. I was standing there impatiently, putting my weigh from one leg to another, just as other shoppers. Suddenly, a woman came rushing through the line with a bag of apples, a dozen of eggs and a milk carton clutched to her chest as she was making her way to the checkout. Halfway through she looked at people in the line, apologized and asked if she could come through without waiting.
Everybody frowned. I frowned too. Some people started muttering something, and a few spoke up: "Very clever, madam. Only I don't want to stay here all night letting everybody who wants to get dealt with Sunday shopping in front of me".
I nodded in silent agreement. I wanted to come home, unload my shopping bags and relax on the couch before a long week. I wanted to have as much ignorant courage to skip the waiting and be the next one checking out as that woman. I saw that she didn't have many goods, and would probably pay and leave within a couple minutes if we let her go next, but stress from waiting and staying in a crowded store for just a little longer would bring my spirits down even more, I knew it.
The woman looked up and said: "My son has been in the hospital two hours away from here for the past month. Three hours ago, my husband called from work and told me our son is being discharged today, and he was on the way to the hospital to bring him home. I want to cook my son's favorite Apple pie for dinner, and want to make it before they get home. I'm asking you to be understanding and let me through. I'm dying to see my son at home". Everybody in the line went silent and let the woman to the check out.
I understood that I fed my own monster with bias and prejudice. I didn't want to be understanding and assume that this woman had something urgent to attend. I cared about my own wants, and automatically assumed the woman just was being cunning, just like every other shopper in the line. I think this situation took place for me to understand that we have to show more understanding and sympathy toward other people to keep our morals alive. This situation also helped me realize that sometimes we don't have to force people into making their personal problems public. We have to show understanding and sympathy by default. It can be hard, as we live in a cruel word, but it will sooth our souls and help us believe there is a little more kindness in this world, as we have it inside.