Since working in retail, I found that it only takes one customer with a snide comment to ruin your day. Alternatively, it only takes one customer to bring a smile to your face.
So first, some background info. Every morning, promptly at 6:55 a.m., my bus driver was at my bus stop to pick up her students. But if one of us had woken up late, she would wait a few moments longer, until she spotted a familiar figure dashing down the street in distress.
There were many times when I knew I could have missed the bus, but my bus driver’s patience and compassion allowed me to make it on time. No matter how tired I was when I walked up those bus stairs, the bus driver greeted me with a “Good morning!” and a smile. There wasn’t a day where she ended her kind policy. Her kindness became routine, and I admit I had taken it for granted after a while.
It started out as a typical Sunday at work, when I walked up to one of the customer to realize I knew her from somewhere else. "I’m sorry, I might be mistaken, but are you…my bus driver?"
She smiled and asked how my summer was going as if we were old friends. It made me feel pretty bad considering I had no idea what her name was and realized I hadn’t ever even taken the time to ask. Yet, she proceeded to tell me more about her life: how she taught piano as a side profession, and that she could use my help as she was looking for something specific in the store; it was an inside joke between her and her piano students.
We went into the stockroom where the seasonal items were held in a storage bin on a quest to find a “mooing” cow keychain. Although it would usually be a cumbersome chore to go through a whole bin of identical key chains, and also ensure each worked, I surprisingly found the task a pleasure, after everything she had done for me.
On that day, my bus driver became Carol, a person with whom I felt a strong connection, and I had become Emily. As my mood lifted dramatically, my perspective changed. The next person in line was not just a frazzled customer who was holding up the line, but a mother who wanted to make sure her child’s birthday party was perfect.
Her indecisiveness was an opportunity for me to help her, instead of being dismissive, which I would have done had I not learned the rewards of patience.
After assisting her, she asked with a smile if she could personally tell a manager how helpful I was. Whether she did or did not the thought that I could channel my positive energy and share it with others led to an epiphany.
Treating each person this way not only made my experience at work enjoyable, but the customers’ as well. If Carol can have limitless patience for her students every morning, so can I for all my customers.
If she can do more than what her job required of her, so can I. If she can muster that much compassion even when no one asked her to, when people even overlook it, I can too.
Because of my work experience, I learned that there’s a lot more to life than academic improvement or getting a raise. It's also important to improve the way I treat others: with kindness and respect, becoming a responsible adult, financially and morally, and being considerate of others’ lives and emotions.
This mentality that Carol taught me extends beyond the workplace to everyday life, starting with offering a smile to a stranger. I can take the time do a small favor for someone, because that’s all it takes to share kindness, and it makes living life all the more gratifying.
