March 1, 2010

Who is Your Betty?

Read James 1:22-27

Over the summer I read the book “Garlic and Sapphires” by Ruth Reichl, a former food critic for the New York Times. One of the challenges of being a food critic is getting restaurants not to recognize you. The goal is to review based on the experience someone like you or I might receive at a four-star restaurant – not based on the service given to Times critics. Reichl’s book chronicled the many disguises she endured in order to eat inconspicuously, and the treatment she received as a result. For Le Cirque, a one-time stomping ground for the likes of Martha Stewart and Rudy Giuliani, Reichl dined as “Molly,” a retired school teacher from Michigan. She was “Brenda,” a bold, bohemian redhead for her trip to Daniel Boulud’s new restaurant. But the disguise that stuck with me most was the one she created for her meal at Tavern on the Green.

Reichl’s “Betty” was inspired by a woman she saw on the bus one afternoon. Reichl watched the woman climb onto the bus, “her swollen fingers chafed against the string handles of the shopping bag they held.” Reichl noticed the ragged hem of the woman’s dress, and that her grey hair appeared “chopped at the bottom, as if she had scissored it herself.” The woman fell forward as the bus lurched to a stop. That’s when Reichl decided to offer the woman her seat.
“For me?” the woman asked, surprised. “Thank you, dearie. No one ever stands up for me.” She added, “Sometimes…I feel invisible.” At that moment, Reichl knew that “invisible” was just what she needed to be for her visit to one of the more expensive restaurants in the city. And invisible she was. Betty spent most of her evening at Tavern on the Green flagging down waiters; feeling unnoticed. The waiters, she noted, acted like they were doing her a favor anytime they glanced her way. Her soup arrived 40 minutes after she ordered it. It was cold. Even worse, throughout the night – even on her way to and from the restaurant – no one smiled at Betty, or even said “hello.”

Since reading the book, I’ve often thought about Betty. Is she the crazy man on the street corner who is speaking to himself, or the exasperated woman behind the counter at my favorite coffee shop? Have they been flashed a smile yet today? We’ve all heard the old cliché that you should walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before judging them. We might consider eating dinner in someone else’s shoes as well.

It’s sometimes easy to forget that Jesus befriended the invisible and ostracized in his society. Jesus would have reached out to the Bettys of the world, too.

Beth Versical