I smiled

A lot of people seemed almost disgusted upon hearing that I - a college graduate - am working retail. This post isn't really about my reasoning behind doing what I do (nor is it about the happy-face-moon-crater pictured above). It's more about some of the things I see while I do what I do. I've seen these three things at work over the past few weeks, and each of them made me smile like a crater... with a beard.

1. I overheard a customer asking a fellow employee which pair of gloves were the warmest. Not an uncommon question this time of year. Then she threw in the part that almost brought a tear to my eye: "We're getting them for our crossing guard." OH MY GOODNESS! I'm pretty sure that's the sweetest thing I've heard a human say or do in months. I wanted to hug that lady and her little kid. Not only are they saving the ozone by walking to school, they're buying their sweet crossing guard the warmest pair of gloves REI has to offer. After fighting off my tears (for the sake of professionalism), I smiled.

2. If we're lucky enough to have to come in at 7:00am to work at a place that doesn't open until 10:00am, we're also lucky enough to see the two people who clean REI every morning. I think it's a father/son duo. The father isn't too big on English, and the son just listens to his music while he vacuums, but he'll talk too. Now, I work upstairs, but the way our store is set up I'm able to see a good portion of the first floor from my section. One day the cleaning didn't quite get finished by 10:00 and I happened to look down and see my friend, the son part of our cleaning team, opening the first of two sets of double doors for this awesome old man who couldn't walk very well (or fast) even with his two canes. After the man got through the first set of doors, music-man hustled in front of him to hold the next door for him. This guy has no close affiliation with REI, he didn't have to even acknowledge the man, but he did, and I smiled.

3. I love when a couple walks up and you can just tell that they are in love with each other, and that their love for each other comes from Jesus. (Sadly, this isn't an event that happens all too often). This guy came and asked me for ski pants the other day. He wanted a good warm pair for his wife. I don't know how you ask a question in such a way that screams, "I love my wife," but this guy knows how, and he did it. After I had been helping him for a very short period of time, his wife walked up, at which point I was helping them, not him. Really I was just helping her the entire time as far as the husband was concerned. Anyway, I was very saddened when I was unable to provide this awesome couple with the particular ski pants they wanted. I mean, I was really sad. I wanted to be friends with these people, and not giving them the pants they want was no way to start a stellar friendship. So they very understandingly walked away, back down the stairs, in love and on their way to a ski trip. I smiled.