Friday, December 4, 2009

Day 4 Buy something for a cashier.

Task Buy something for a cashier.


This action was done on December 1. But I am posting it now. It's my game and I can change the rules. :-)

What happened:
I have a 22 month old baby girl, who loves to run around. I went to Target to buy coffee creamer and undershirts for her. I feel dumb walking around with her in a shopping cart when I only have two things I need to buy. So I let her run around. A parenting mistake for sure, since about half way through the shopping experience she decided to be that little girl who goes spread eagle on the floor and now I"m the mom who has to coax her up.

Anyway we get to the line and I see the candy display. I picked up two packages of Turtle Candies, because I love them and I though maybe someone else would like them too.

I was the third person in line. The woman checking out was having a very difficult time, her gift cards didn't have as much money on them as she thought and her credit card was declined. Yikes. The cashier never lost her cool, she helped the woman along. All in all the transaction took much longer then it should have.

Meanwhile my daughter is now sitting on the conveyor belt saying Hi to everyone.

The next woman in front of me had 3 fake flowers and none of them had price tags.
Again a long transaction.

Then came our turn. She started scanning my items. As she scanned the candy I said, "One of those are for you."
She looked up at me, "Excuse me?"
"I picked that one up for you. You were so nice to all the people in front of me, you never lost your cool. It's the holidays and I'm sure people are a little cranky right now."



Reaction:

She smiled, "God Bless you child." <-- I should say I love it when people say this to me. "God bless you" isn't a phrase I use very much unless someone is sneezing. I never say "God bless you" as a thank you. And when people say that to me, I like to think not only are they thanking me but they are bringing in the Higher Up, the Big Guy. For me, its a little bit more meaningful then just a thank you. "Oh thank you." I said. "Turtles are my favorite." "Good I was worried you wouldn't like them." "Honey, I've been working since Black Friday with no days off. Thank you." We finished the transaction with smiles. Here's the thing, the woman behind me was smiling too. What I've been finding with this is that it's not just making one stranger happy but anyone who is witnessing the even too.
Will I do it again?:
Yep
How much did it cost me? $.99
How much time did it take? 10 seconds.
How much effort? Reaching for two bars instead on one.

5 comments:

  1. Erinn, you are soo inspiring! I'm reading these blog updates everyday and they always make me smile! You should write a book or be on Oprah! :)
    Tara Troy Gambardella

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  2. Thanks Tara! I'm glad it's making you happy. That's the whole point.
    I hear there might be an opening for Oprah's time slot.
    Have a great day

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  3. You are so cool! I'm sure Zoey kept everyone entertained as well. Like mother,like daughter.

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  4. I love it! I am still smiling!!!!

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  5. Oh what a wonderful thing to do. I used to work in retail, it is TOUGH around the holidays :) Well done to you.

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