(I am on my high school rowing team. My boat consists of me, three other rowers, and our coxswain. We are missing our coxswain and a rower and therefore can’t go out on the water. We have to do a series of land exercises which includes running along the river, which is a boardwalk and a series of shops, while the rest of our team goes out on the river. While running, we decide to stop at an ice cream shop, that also sells water ice, along the way to get water ice. I have no money so I hang back while the other two look at the flavors.)

Employee: *probably assuming I was too shy to order* “I promise I won’t bite.”

Me: “Oh, no, it’s okay. I don’t have any money to order so I’m just hanging here.”

(I wait for my two teammates to order.)

Employee: “What flavor do you want?”

Me: “Um… I don’t have any money.”

Employee: “It’s okay.”

Me: “Well, in that case, I’ll have the blue raspberry.”

(He gave me a cup of blue raspberry for free. Thank you, ice cream shop employee! You gave a hot, tired girl a nice refreshing cup of water ice to eat with her teammates.)

(I have just gotten out of ballet with my sister. My parents pick us up to take us to a well-known Asian take-out place. My sister has been feeling sick, but she goes in to order anyway since I am still in ballet clothes. She’s in there for a few minutes before a man comes out to our car.)

Man: “Excuse me; are you the parents of the girl inside?”

Mum: “Yes, is something wrong?”

Man: “Come inside, now.”

(Both my mum and my stepdad run inside, while I stay with my brother, who is also sick. A minute later, they come out supporting my sister. The man and a woman come out. My mum explains that my sister has been feeling sick, but she should be fine. The woman talks to my mum, handing us a cup of Pepsi for my sister.)

Woman: “She passed out inside. Take this drink. It’s thin, and should be good for her. Make sure she drinks it slowly.”

(My mum agrees, and the woman walks away. An employee comes out, with the food that my sister ordered.)

Employee: “Here’s your food. It’s on us. Make sure she gets better, okay?

(My mum insisted on paying, but he refused and went back inside. My sister and I were regulars at this place, and the employees were always so great. It made me happy that even after all the awful stories I’d heard about employees being awful, this employee in particular was awesome enough to get our food packed and bring it out to us for free, as well as making sure my sister was okay.)

(I’ve had a hard week; all the customers I’ve been getting on the line have been angry and rude, taking their time to complain about everything, which increases the wait for other customers, who in turn complain as well. As a result I’m really stressed, with a bad headache, and I can barely keep from crying when people scream at me. Then I’m getting this guy on the line…)

Me: “Hello, this is the line support of [ISP]. I hear your connection is dead.”

Caller: “Yes, this is correct. It’s my father’s line, actually. He’s right here, but I’m calling for him because he’s not really tech savvy.”

Me: “That is all right. Can you tell me when the connection stopped working?”

Caller: “Well, my dad says he could still surf and call yesterday. I suppose it disappeared in the night at some point… He hasn’t touched any cable; neither has he changed his network settings.”

Me: “Okay, this is all good. We’ll check your line first. Let me run some tests. Can you tell me what type of router your father uses and how the LED lights on it are looking right now?”

Caller: “He has this [ISP brand router] he got it last year. As for the lights, only Power and WLAN are on.”  *this basically means the router doesn’t get signal, although it could also mean that the router doesn’t work properly anymore*

Me: “Thank you. I’m writing it down… and there’ll be a few seconds before the tests are finished. Sorry about that; the system is really slow tonight.” *I’m already cringing, because his results aren’t looking well, and everyone so far has complained that my system takes too long to test the line*

Caller: “This isn’t a problem; just tell me the verdict whenever you’re ready.”

Me: “All-righty. So here’s this: I can’t detect any physical damage on the line, but the connection is just not there. So, let’s try and reconfigure the whole thing. This also takes some time, but we can stay on the phone until it’s through. Then I’ll need you to restart your device. I’ll start right now.”

Caller: “Sounds great. Can it help?”

Me: “You won’t believe how often it helps; however, I’m not overly optimistic about it, because your DSL port doesn’t answer. Of course we’ll try, just in case it works, but if it doesn’t you’ll have to wait for a field technician.” *cringing again, because appointments for field technicians take some time and people usually are a**-holes about it*

Caller: “That is okay. If it doesn’t work now, then of course we’ll wait.”

Me: “Oh, wow.”

Caller: “Excuse me? Is something happening? Do I have to restart my router now?”

Me: “No, not just yet. I’m still waiting for the OK message. It’s just… people have been screaming at me this whole week and you’re the first customer I’ve had on the phone today that doesn’t go berserk about waiting.”

Caller: Oh, I’ve worked in service. I know how it is and I feel no need to scream at you. Technology doesn’t always work, things can get broken, and if I yell at you, I won’t make it work faster. I’d just make you miserable and I don’t want this, because you’re just trying to help me.”

Me: *dumbfounded* “You literally just restored my faith in humanity, sir. So, everything is through, please unplug your router for about 30 seconds and then plug it back in. Then we’ll see if it worked.”

(In the end I had to book a technician for him, because his DSL port remained stubbornly silent. He was friendly and civil all the time, and I didn’t hear a complaint from his father, either. I managed to find them an appointment for the next day. It’s those rare customers that are really worth it. Thank you, sir, for being nice to a strange lady on the phone!)

(My wife and I are walking down an aisle near the checkout registers. A woman and her young (4- to 5-year-old) son are walking toward us. The son is carrying a toy gun. As they pass each person, he points the gun at them and makes a “pew pew” sound. When they pass us, he points the gun at me.)

Me: *grabs my chest, yelling* “Oh, no, he got me!”

(I fell to the floor, where I lay still for several seconds. I didn’t see it as his mother made him keep walking, but my wife said the look of shock he gave when he saw someone play along with him was priceless.)

(I manage my family’s service center where we sell and repair various household appliances (e.g., sewing machines, vacuums, fans, lamps, etc.). A gentleman walks in at the same time as an older lady who is carrying a serger. Note: these are very complicated machines to repair properly and require a lot of work.)

Older Lady: “I broke a needle on my machine.”

(I look and notice that one of the upper needles is missing, one that is easy to replace so I assume that this is the issue and that she might have difficulty replacing it herself because of the tight space and small tools required.)

Me: “I can put one on for you really quickly. Those needles are less than a dollar apiece” *I go fetch the needle required and the small screwdriver needed to make the repair*

Older Lady: *as I begin to get the needle into place* “Oh, not that one. One of the bottom needles.”

(She opens the machine and shows me another part that is actually more expensive and much more difficult to replace. A call to our technician reveals that the part will be about $20 and that the service will be far more than a basic labor charge because she will have to disassemble much of the machine to replace it.)

Me: “Okay, with the part, your total will be [much larger amount than she or I had expected].”

Older Lady: “I really can’t afford to do that right now. I’ll have to come back next month.”

(I realize that she much be on Social Security or some other monthly stipend, and begin to feel a little awkward for her and me because at this point the gentleman, who has been quiet the whole time, has been waiting quite a while and is now privy to her financial situation.)

Me: “I can print this estimate out for you so that you know what to expect when you bring your machine back and so that this won’t take quite so long.”

Older Lady: “It’ll have to be soon. The girls will be coming in with their prom dresses in a couple weeks.”

(At this point, the gentleman reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet, handing me the full amount for her repair.)

Gentleman: “Here. It sounds like you have a lot of projects coming up and this way your machine will be all tuned up when those girls come in for their prom fittings.”

(The amount he paid for a stranger’s machine is about what my base pay is for a week. The lady and I didn’t really know how to react but I finished taking her machine in to our service system and as she walked out she asked if she could give the gentleman a hug which he obliged. Thank you, sir. I should have gotten your name but our whole family appreciates what you did and we’re trying to pay it forward!)