A Hot Slice Of Kindness, Part 8

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