The Day Was About To (Bath) Bomb

(I am having a really bad day. I had a huge fight with my partner, had two rejections for jobs I really wanted, I am carrying three really heavy bags of shopping with me, and I am starting to feel a depression bout coming on from all the stress. I go into a popular UK bath product shop to get something nice to cheer me up… just as my mother phones me to talk about my mortgage application. She is trying to be helpful, but it is just the wrong time to talk about money, and I feel really overwhelmed. As I get off the phone, I start to cry.)

Shop Assistant: “Are you okay? Come sit down.”

(I vent to her about all the stuff happening that day, and she sits and listens for about ten minutes.)

Me: “I’m so sorry; you’re at work and I’m keeping you from your job.”

Shop Assistant: “Oh, no, it’s been nice to sit down! Why don’t you put your bags behind the counter, and you can have a browse without being weighed down?”

(I do so, and buy a bath bomb and a face-mask. As I pay:)

Shop Assistant: “[Colleague] says she’ll give you a free arm and hand massage, if you have time?”

(I sat with another assistant for at least fifteen minutes. She was amazing, too; working my pressure points and chatting to me about this and that, until I was smiling. I left the shop feeling much better, at least well enough to get home and relax. Before I did, I bought them both a bag of sweets to say thank you. They really went above and beyond for a random customer!)