I thought I was doing really great this week with this whole be extra nice to others thing... I hadn't written any mean emails, I had smiled at strangers... I had basically done a whole lot of not going out of my way to be super nice.
SP is having a cook out tomorrow. I had said I would bring a side dish. Since my computer died on Tuesday (lovely... thank God for work laptops) and I'm hoping to track my computer expert cousin down tomorrow morning I had to go to Kroger today. A part of me loves grocery shopping - just pushing the cart up and down every aisle and imagining all the yummy things I could make - the other part of me hates it and wants to get out of there as fast as I can.
The check-out people are always nice - asking how your day is, sometimes complimenting you on something, etc. But as I was leaving the man that packed all my groceries in my bag stopped what he was doing and said "do you have small kids at home" and he held out a lollipop. I smiled and said "no I'm sorry." Although why I apologized I'm not sure. He handed me the lollipop and still smiling said "that's ok, have a sucker anyway, it's Friday." I had replied that I hoped he had a great weekend. He told me his name and said to let him know if there was anything in the store he could ever help with and to have a blessed weekend, too.
It really made my day. It was so simple. And yet he didn't have to do that. He could have just said have a great weekend or hi... but this simple two minute if that exchange left me feeling happy. It actually even made me want to go grocery shopping there more often (shout-out Kroger)... And it made me think, how simple things like giving someone a lollipop is all you really need to do to step out of your box and be a little bit extra nice.
The thing that struck me is to do his job all he had to do was say hi and have a good day. He didn't have to give out lollipops (they don't say Kroger on them), he didn't have to offer help next time I was in the store. He simply had to do his job and smile occasionally. But he did more than that and that is what makes a difference. I hope that in my last two days of this challenge I can make a difference. That I can take that extra step to make someone else smile and maybe influence them to do something nice in exchange for nothing in return.
This really was sweet! :)
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