My store is close to a halfway house, and some people come through looking to get new phones activated and other necessities when they get to the house. There was one really nice guy who had been locked up for about twenty years and was trying to make his way back into society and figure out all the technology that he had missed.

He was a really chill and nice guy, so after I sold and activated the phone for him, I showed him how to use it fully — how to turn it on and off, call, text, etc.. He would come back specifically for me and ask a number of very basic questions about his phone (and his eventual smartphone), smart TVs, and anything else he’d buy as he got used to life on the outside.

One day, he came in to buy a laptop and a headset. When I asked what it was for, he told me he was moving in with his sister and her kid down in LA. They were teaching him how to play World Of Warcraft, and he wanted to have his own computer and join them on Discord to play. He had come to me for help with it.

I made sure he had it set up, the game installed, and Discord joined. I even gave him advice about character creation and helped him through the introductory parts of the game during my lunch break. Every piece of advice came with a “Wow, that’s amazing!” or “I wish I’d had this when I was a kid; things might have been different!” 

That was the last time I saw him, and I think back occasionally, hoping he is living his best life out there.

I’m on lunch from my shift at the grocery store, and I go across the street to the coffee shop to get some much-needed coffee and a snack. I’m standing in line, and the woman in front of me notices my uniform.

Customer: “Oh, you work at [Store]. I was just there; it’s so busy!”

Me: “Yeah, everyone’s buying last-minute items for Mother’s Day.”

Customer: “Well, I’m glad you’re getting a break from it all!” 

Me: “That’s an interesting pastry you’re getting.”

Customer: “Oh, yes! I love it. Have you never had it before?” 

Me: “Oh, well, I don’t normally come here, but I’m working a double today, so I thought I’d get myself a treat.”

Instead of getting three of the pastries (for herself, her partner, and their kid), she buys four. I don’t think much of this as I zone out a little and check all the text messages that came my way while I was on my shift. As I’m about to order my coffee, the woman hands me the fourth pastry.

Customer: “You’re doing a great job, and I wish you the best for the rest of your shift!”

Before I could process what had happened, she darted off toward the exit and left with her partner and kid. I weakly shouted out a thank-you before I realized there was a $10 bill on the counter that the barista said had been left for me to order whatever drink I wanted.

That was the nicest thing a customer has ever done for me, and she wasn’t even my customer!

I worked as a parking lot attendant and cashier when I was sixteen. I pushed plastic carts all day, or I rang up people’s groceries.

I was halfway through my shift out in the sun getting carts when I decided to take a small break under the shade near the bench beside the front entrance of the store. I didn’t pay much attention to the few people in the area, but this very nice older Chinese lady struck up a conversation with me.

I was a bit stunned because it came out of nowhere. She started talking to me in a thick Chinese accent about my job and saying stuff like:

Customer: “You have a good job, and you earn good money.”

This weirded me out at first, but she kept the conversation going and talked about how in China, people would work out in the soybean fields and rice paddies only to get very little money at the end of the day.

I was taken on one amazing trip in this chat with this lady, and I still don’t understand why. To end this conversation, she said:

Customer: “You do a good job. Thank you.”

And with that, she kinda just walked away. I never saw her again, but I wish I had. Those words and that lady have stuck with me ever since. I’m sure I did a better job after that because it was very motivating to hear some positive feedback from customers for once!

I worked as a cashier, bagger, and cart attendant about twenty years ago when I was in high school. I would go to work right after school most of the week, and I worked every weekend.

It was in the summer, and I had just come back to my register after collecting carts outside. I guess smaller, less busy stores didn’t have dedicated cart people. I was red, sweaty, and a bit out of breath when I started ringing people up. The second customer up was a lady with two kids, and she looked as flustered as I did. She wasn’t angry — she smiled, and I smiled back — just kind of in a hurry and dealing with these kids, I guess. The items she was buying suggested a trip to the beach or a nearby pool somewhere. 

As I finished ringing her up, she grabbed a pair of sandals before I could bag them, with the labels and a rubber strap still on them.

Customer: “Could you cut the labels and this strap off so I can use them at the pool?”

I thought nothing of it, grabbed some scissors, and cut the labels off. I handed them right back seeing as how she was in a hurry. She smiled again and thanked me, and I smiled back. No problem.

The total came out to around $40 or so, and she handed me the cash. I punched it into the register and handed her the change — about $1.50.

Customer: *Smiling* “Keep it and buy yourself a slice of pizza from the cafe.”

I smiled, thanked her, and made sure to do just that later on.

The whole thing lasted about a minute. It was just a few straps on some sandals, and it was just one slice of pizza, but I’ll always remember that interaction for some reason. 

Related:
A Hot Slice Of Kindness, Part 7
A Hot Slice Of Kindness, Part 6
A Hot Slice Of Kindness, Part 5
A Hot Slice Of Kindness, Part 4
A Hot Slice Of Kindness, Part 3

I worked in a vitamin store while I was in college. This was a pretty boring store for kids; they never came in without their parents.

Kids wandering a mall only really go to fun stores at that age, right? But two girls came into our vitamin store, no adult with them. They were the age where kids are just old enough to be walking around a mall without their parents — maybe eleven or twelve at the absolute oldest.

Girl: “Excuse me, where are the chewable vitamins? It’s usually [Brand].”

I was surprised she knew the name of it. My colleague handed her the bottle, and the girls said thank you. The first girl showed the vitamins to her friend. They handed the bottle back to my colleague, said thank you again, and left.

They came back probably fifteen minutes later with their moms, went right to the spot, and showed it to one of the moms. They then picked out the same brand bottle but for older people. Then, I saw that they had come in with an older lady who was walking very slowly, probably a grandma or even a great-grandma. The girls had run ahead to minimize the time it took for her to be standing or walking around the store looking for vitamins.

I told the other mom how the girls were the politest kids we had ever met, and her eyes got kind of big, but she looked pleased and said thank you. The mom bought the vitamins. The girls said thank you to us (my coworker and me), and that was it.

A simple and not a crazy story, but when you work in retail, having customers so well-behaved is actually kinda crazy.