Having had a chance to reflect a bit on my old job at Target, there is one thing that I could not leave unmentioned, hence I had to follow it up with the tenth and final episode of the cashier diaries.
On one of my last days at work, I had this girl in my check-out lane. She had a baby gift registry in hand and was deciding between this or that, which is usually annoying, but in her case, not so much, because I realized quickly, it was about money. She really wanted to get this person something nice, but couldn't afford it and was hence fighting with herself as to what to do. I felt bad for her. Pretty soon she was trying to decide about whether to get the shirt or the pants for the baby, as she couldn't afford both.
That's when something really impressive happened: Human kindness. The gentleman behind her in line, said, you know, not to be eaves-dropping, but clearly you're having a dilemma here and I'd like to help out. Turning to me he said to ring her up just for the shirt and then put the pants on his ticket. She was trying to say no, it wasn't necessary, but he just nodded to me to proceed.
I rang her up and then put the little pants on his ticket, while he was handing them to her and simply said, "have a good day". She was speechless at first and then thanked him over and over and he just said, don't mention it. A complete stranger showing kindness to someone he'd never met before. It's pretty amazing to watch.
It was inspiring. The reason I remembered it now, was that on Friday when I got paid from my new job for the first time, considerably better than at Target, I decided to "treat" myself by going to Wendy's for lunch. I realize it's nothing special, but was more like a symbolic thing for me, to reward myself for finding a new job, that I like a lot and that is more rewarding.
I had a lady in front of me in one of those motorized wheelchairs, putting in her order. When it came to paying, the cashier was discretely trying to tell her that her card was declined, which I couldn't help but overhear. She was an older lady, maybe an oversight to transfer money, she was definitely frazzled and looked pretty helpless, apparently being glad to just have made it here, now faced with having to leave and come back.
That's when I remembered that episode at Target, knowing that I just got paid and told the cashier to put hers on my ticket. Both looked at me startled, but I encouragingly nodded and said, really no big deal, I'd be happy to take care of it. The wheelchair-lady was very startled and thanked me a million times, not knowing, that she was actually the one, who made my day, not the other way around. =)
On one of my last days at work, I had this girl in my check-out lane. She had a baby gift registry in hand and was deciding between this or that, which is usually annoying, but in her case, not so much, because I realized quickly, it was about money. She really wanted to get this person something nice, but couldn't afford it and was hence fighting with herself as to what to do. I felt bad for her. Pretty soon she was trying to decide about whether to get the shirt or the pants for the baby, as she couldn't afford both.
That's when something really impressive happened: Human kindness. The gentleman behind her in line, said, you know, not to be eaves-dropping, but clearly you're having a dilemma here and I'd like to help out. Turning to me he said to ring her up just for the shirt and then put the pants on his ticket. She was trying to say no, it wasn't necessary, but he just nodded to me to proceed.
I rang her up and then put the little pants on his ticket, while he was handing them to her and simply said, "have a good day". She was speechless at first and then thanked him over and over and he just said, don't mention it. A complete stranger showing kindness to someone he'd never met before. It's pretty amazing to watch.
It was inspiring. The reason I remembered it now, was that on Friday when I got paid from my new job for the first time, considerably better than at Target, I decided to "treat" myself by going to Wendy's for lunch. I realize it's nothing special, but was more like a symbolic thing for me, to reward myself for finding a new job, that I like a lot and that is more rewarding.
I had a lady in front of me in one of those motorized wheelchairs, putting in her order. When it came to paying, the cashier was discretely trying to tell her that her card was declined, which I couldn't help but overhear. She was an older lady, maybe an oversight to transfer money, she was definitely frazzled and looked pretty helpless, apparently being glad to just have made it here, now faced with having to leave and come back.
That's when I remembered that episode at Target, knowing that I just got paid and told the cashier to put hers on my ticket. Both looked at me startled, but I encouragingly nodded and said, really no big deal, I'd be happy to take care of it. The wheelchair-lady was very startled and thanked me a million times, not knowing, that she was actually the one, who made my day, not the other way around. =)
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