On Good Deeds

As bleak as the world may appear sometimes according to news and other media, every once in a while, I'm reminded that there are good people in the world.

My list of errands to run today was very long. On the list was a visit to an orthopedic surgeon to see if I will be needing surgery on my knee in the very near future. (No results yet.) Unfortunately, the doctor's office was running a whole hour and a half behind schedule. My list of errands didn't quite go according to my original plans and I was away from home at dinner time. I didn't like the idea of going home for dinner just to leave again. I decided to pop into the food court Subway at the mall and grab a sandwich. I really don't like to do that. I hate spending extra money on food that way. It's so much more expensive; I can make something scrumptious on my own. I don't really know anything about nutrition, but when I eat out, I generally don't feel so awesome after.

I had only been in line for a minute or so when a woman approached me saying, "Ma'am, how long have you been in line? I've been waiting 15 minutes. Could I please go first?" She seemed really frazzled. I was a little confused by that. There was only one other person in line and the whole food court was pretty slow, so I didn't understand how she had been waiting fifteen minutes. But I wasn't in any hurry, and it wasn't that big a deal to me to let her go ahead, so I politely told her it was ok.

My turn came in a reasonable amount of time. While I was waiting for my turn to pay, the employee asked me if I could hear him. I told him yes, but he was a little quiet. He said he was sick and couldn't talk very well. Dear food service employees: Never, never tell your customers you are sick. Also, don't work when you are sick. Thanks.

So, I got to the register and prepared to pay for my sandwich, but the cashier said that an earlier customer wanted me to have "this," at which point he handed me a Subway card. I don't frequent Subway so I didn't really know what that meant at first. Turns out the card was meant to pay for my sandwich, and there was enough on it for another sandwich sometime in the future! I didn't know who that other customer was, but that was such a nice thing for him to do!

It's amazing what even the smallest gestures can do to make someone's day just a little brighter. Everyone is fighting their battle. Even a smile can make a difference.