Ah, yes -- Wawa. The North East's favorite convenient store. From their warm and yummy Sizzli breakfast sandwiches to their state of the art strawberry banana smoothies, and of course, their cheap yet delicious coffee, they never ever disappoint. I feel as though every time a person steps into a Wawa even if they are having the crappiest day ever, they become happy. Everybody always greets each other, they wait patiently for the order screen and they happily hold the door for the person behind them when walking out.
I live in a small town in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and our local Wawa is especially special because of a man named Ron. Ron is a man with special needs that has been voluntarily coming into our Wawa for years to hold the door for people when they walk out. He came in not asking for money or for discounts or anything; he simply volunteered to hold the doors at our Wawa because he wants to put a smile on everyone's faces, and he even addresses everyone as "young lady" or "young man" regardless of age.
Today, when I went into Wawa to get a free frozen mocha cappuccino (shout-out to Wawa for the occasional free coupons they send in the mail) and Ron was there wearing his tie-dye "Wawa Hoagiefest" shirt with a huge grin on his face swinging the door open for each person walking out, most of them replying, "Thanks, Ron! You have a good one!" because basically everyone in town knows who he is. As he swung open the door for me today, he said, "Have a great day, young lady! That looks like a great drink that you have there! Enjoy!" And I smiled, laughed and told him to do the same and that I definitely recommend the frozen mocha cappuccinos.
It's selfless people like Ron that make the world a better place. Such a small act of kindness has impacted so many people. A majority of our town knows Ron's name and claim to always look forward to seeing him at Wawa during their daily coffee runs. I also love Wawa for being so supportive of his voluntary act of kindness. They treat him like one of their own employees: giving him shirts, and I'm sure, some free coffee and a few bucks for doing what he does. Even if they didn't do that, he would still happily do his act of kindness with the same grin on his face. Wawa and its customers embrace Ron for who he is, accepting him for his disabilities and appreciating his considerate actions. I think we should all be a little more like Ron: striving to make others smile and not asking for anything in return. Ron, if you're reading this, then Delaware County loves you!
