All it takes is one hang up and the will not to call back

I saw a woman bawling on the bus this morning. She was in utter despair, talking to some guy on the phone. Snot dripped out of her nose, tears streaked mascara down her cheeks. Her bony frame revealed she was too skinny. And then I heard "cat food." And something about a "lost wallet."

As it went, the woman somehow lost her wallet and didn't have money to buy cat food. And the man on the other line screamed at her. Called her terrible names. Belittled her ability to do anything right.

And her emotions ran rampant, unleashing a flood of tears as the lie of her unloveliness drew deeper and deeper into her heart.

She called him a jerk. Hung up on him. Called him back. Said sorry. Called him a jerk again. Hung up on him again. And called him back again. The cycle persisted.

All because of a lost wallet and cat food.