Stories of Sweetness
Hello friends,
Sometimes life can be tough, overbearing and just plain sucky. In these times, I have two things to hold on to: My Faith and the fact I know there is some good in the world.
I am here to hopefully bring you some joy and bright sunshine to your mid-week slump.
This summer, if you have been following, I spent a wonderful, eye-opening, nature-filled summer in Wyoming working in Grand Teton National Park. Well, that summer had to come to an end and I had to fly back for school. I was waiting in line to buy a snack at the Jackson, WY airport before my flight. If you've ever been to Jackson you'll know what I'm talking about- everything is fancy and overpriced because they know you only have one option and let's face it if you're traveling to Jackson, WY- you probably have some money to spend. The people that frequent Jackson, WY usually have a particularly sour attitude about everything. It has to be this cool but not too cool. Hipster but classic. A snob in disguise. The airport was full of these snobs trying to cram in a few more vacation days before the kids go back to school. For some strange reason, there is only one place other than a vending machine in the Jackson airport to buy food. Needless to say none of the Jackson locals wanted vending slop and neither did I and the line was horrendous. I probably waited in line for a solid 30 minutes to buy a Cliff Bar, yogurt and a soda. I really thought about walking out without paying, but my conscience got the better of me and I waited. As I got closer to the front of the line, about 3 people from the front, I noticed that the boy working behind register...(Let me mention that there was only ONE register open at lunchtime- not the best management, but who am I to judge)... had a sort of handicap.
At that point, I overheard the man trying to place a super fancy and overly complicated coffee order start to get agitated at this boy for not being able to understand. Finally the man said, "Whatever, just give me whatever." The boy- embarrassed- said "I'm sorry, I'm trying to understand you..." The rest of the conversation I lost. The coffee man got his coffee, paid, and left in a hurry. Then the man in front of me stepped up to the cashier and the first thing he said to this boy was, "Hey Alex, (I feel like this goes without saying but the boy was wearing a nametag and his name was in fact Alex) I think you're doing a really great job. Keep up the good work, dude."The boy who had not lifted his eyes from his register screen looked at this man and just smiled. No words, just a smile.
I kept that smile from Alex for the rest of the trip in the back of my mind. I still think about it. Whenever I feel like losing my cool at a customer at work, with a co-worker, a classmate, my roommate... I think of Alex. There are a lot of Alexs out there. They don't necessarily have to be handicapped but they are still trying to help you and understand you better... They want to make your day better. Don't get angry at someone on a whim- you don't know how that will affect them nor do you know what is going on in their life.
Sometimes life can be tough, overbearing and just plain sucky. In these times, I have two things to hold on to: My Faith and the fact I know there is some good in the world.
I am here to hopefully bring you some joy and bright sunshine to your mid-week slump.
This summer, if you have been following, I spent a wonderful, eye-opening, nature-filled summer in Wyoming working in Grand Teton National Park. Well, that summer had to come to an end and I had to fly back for school. I was waiting in line to buy a snack at the Jackson, WY airport before my flight. If you've ever been to Jackson you'll know what I'm talking about- everything is fancy and overpriced because they know you only have one option and let's face it if you're traveling to Jackson, WY- you probably have some money to spend. The people that frequent Jackson, WY usually have a particularly sour attitude about everything. It has to be this cool but not too cool. Hipster but classic. A snob in disguise. The airport was full of these snobs trying to cram in a few more vacation days before the kids go back to school. For some strange reason, there is only one place other than a vending machine in the Jackson airport to buy food. Needless to say none of the Jackson locals wanted vending slop and neither did I and the line was horrendous. I probably waited in line for a solid 30 minutes to buy a Cliff Bar, yogurt and a soda. I really thought about walking out without paying, but my conscience got the better of me and I waited. As I got closer to the front of the line, about 3 people from the front, I noticed that the boy working behind register...(Let me mention that there was only ONE register open at lunchtime- not the best management, but who am I to judge)... had a sort of handicap.
At that point, I overheard the man trying to place a super fancy and overly complicated coffee order start to get agitated at this boy for not being able to understand. Finally the man said, "Whatever, just give me whatever." The boy- embarrassed- said "I'm sorry, I'm trying to understand you..." The rest of the conversation I lost. The coffee man got his coffee, paid, and left in a hurry. Then the man in front of me stepped up to the cashier and the first thing he said to this boy was, "Hey Alex, (I feel like this goes without saying but the boy was wearing a nametag and his name was in fact Alex) I think you're doing a really great job. Keep up the good work, dude."The boy who had not lifted his eyes from his register screen looked at this man and just smiled. No words, just a smile.
I kept that smile from Alex for the rest of the trip in the back of my mind. I still think about it. Whenever I feel like losing my cool at a customer at work, with a co-worker, a classmate, my roommate... I think of Alex. There are a lot of Alexs out there. They don't necessarily have to be handicapped but they are still trying to help you and understand you better... They want to make your day better. Don't get angry at someone on a whim- you don't know how that will affect them nor do you know what is going on in their life.
Be Kind.
Be Loving.
Send me your stories of sweetness: macyprobs@gmail.com
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#macyprobs
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