That rite of passage: getting to go to Dunkin’ Donuts with your friends and buy a sugary iced coffee. (And I’m not knocking sugary iced coffee, BTW…Dunkin’s iced coffee with caramel and cream is a favorite of mine.)

I stopped at Dunkin’ yesterday to get a hot coffee (it was 50 degrees and rainy. Not iced-coffee weather.) I’d no sooner walked into the store than I heard a crash.

Everyone stopped talking and turned in the direction of the three teenage girls standing in front of the register, iced coffees in hand, a shattered glass coffee cup on the floor at their feet. They’d knocked something off a display shelf. The sudden silence was broken by the sound of those three girls giggling. After a couple of minutes of that, someone behind the counter handed a broom to the store manager, who was mopping the floor in the front of the store.

One of the girls did manage to choke out, “Sorry…” in the middle of that giggle fit.

And then they left. They just walked out. They didn’t offer to help clean up or pay for the glass. Instead, still laughing, they got into a car with someone’s mom and drove off.

There are things you make sure to teach your children before you let them go into stores or restaurants alone.

• Be polite
• Speak clearly when you place an order
• Count your change
• If you’re going to a restaurant, leave a good tip. 20% or better, if a server has to deal with multiple teenagers and multiple checks.

But did you ever think to brainstorm with your children what they’d do if they broke something?

If your child is old enough to go to a store with her friends, she’s old enough to pay for the glass item she drops and breaks while waiting for her food order. Giggling, then leaving the store while the owner sweeps up the mess is not the way to handle it.

I’m just hoping that the mom who picked up the girls in question circled back to the store and made them do the right thing once she heard about it. My friends on Facebook weren’t optimistic about that.

I felt bad for the store manager, who I think was hoping for someone to do the right thing. I used that Dunkin’ as a mobile office a few times this summer, when TheKid was at theatre camp. I’d buy a coffee and a donut and use the WiFi to check work emails while I enjoyed my food. That manager worked hard. He knew the name of almost every customer who came in on the mornings I sat there.

I felt like I should have offered to pay for the broken cup–and I had barely set foot in the store when it happened.

I felt like I should have followed those girls out the door and said, “You should offer to pay for that cup.” I didn’t, because I fear confrontation. But I’m kicking myself.

And you can bet I’ll make sure to let TheKid know what he should do if he or his friends breaks something when they’re in a store.

If you’re a Catholic on Twitter, you’ve heard of the #MediaNuns. They do great work! They’re out there evangelizing in creative ways: writing and publishing, tweeting, composing and performing music, reviewing films and more.

I follow a bunch of them on Twitter: @nunblogger, @crabbymystic, @srhelenaburns, @kerrygma, @MarthaMossFSP, @SisterMPaul. I’ve read quite a few of the books they’ve written and/or published. One of them writes for CatholicMom.com, and if I’d had some free time last weekend, I would have had the chance to meet her in person. (See you next time you’re in Philly, Sr. Margaret!)

The Sisters are in the forefront of Catholic media and publishing and work hard to serve others. Now they can use a hand up themselves; their emergency generator needs to be replaced before the next New England snowstorm takes out power to their convent (where they care for the infirm sisters) and publishing house.

Donate if you are able. Pray along with their novena beginning tomorrow–the prayers will be broadcast at noon and 8 PM Eastern.

More information is in the press release below.

Daughters of St. Paul Hold Live “Mary Undoer of Knots” Novena for Annual Webathon

Nuns are praying for much-needed power… from a new generator

Boston, MA, Sept 30, 2016: From October 5 to October 13, the Daughters of St. Paul will be holding their annual webathon, this year hoping to raise $89,000 for a new generator to replace the one that has provided backup power to their convent and publishing house in Jamaica Plain for the past 50 years.

The webathon includes a live novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots at http://pauline.org/webathon2016 at noon and 8pm EDT every day, and the sisters are hoping that as many of the faithful who can will respond to the call and pray with them online, as well as contributing financially to the cause.

The generator provides energy to the publishing house to run computers and communicate with their 12 spiritual book centers throughout North America. In both the publishing house and the convent area, the generator provides heat, runs the lights, powers the elevators, and most importantly provides oxygen to aging senior sisters in the infirmary when needed.

“We had hoped that our 2016 webathon might provide us with a new project in the publishing house,” says Sister Kathryn Hermes, FSP, the publishing house’s director of digital media and one of the event’s coordinators. “But plans changed when we learned how much the new generator will cost. We’re faced with a big ‘knot’ and a big challenge, so we’re taking the advice of Pope Francis and turning to Mary Undoer of Knots to help us raise the money!”

The sisters encourage anyone who has difficult knots in their own life to join the Daughters of St. Paul in the novena: to pray along with them, and to donate whatever is possible for the new generator.

About Pauline Books & Media: The publishing house of the Daughters of Saint Paul, an international congregation of women religious serving the Church through communications and media, Pauline Books & Media has for the past century been a passionate and trusted publisher of Church documents, children’s and teen books, and adult books in the areas of theology, spirituality, faith in practice, and inspiration. More at pauline.org.

Images courtesy of Pauline Books and Media. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

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This month I’m joining all the cool kids in the #Write31Days adventure! I didn’t pick a keyword or a theme, because just getting something written for all 31 days is challenge enough for me right now.