(We have had repeated outages with our Internet that the ISP has never managed to diagnose. They seem to correspond to rainstorms, and tech support constantly says they cannot find any problem and blames it on our house wiring. After yet another outage, I walk outside and unscrew the cable connection from the outside box. I plug it directly into my cable modem and verify that I cannot connect to the Internet. This definitively proves that it cannot be the wiring in my house, so I call up the ISP and have the following exchange.)

Technician #1: “Hello, what can I do to help you today?”

Me: “I have recurring Internet outages, about which I have called repeatedly. They have occurred once again. Before you walk me through your normal steps, yes, I’ve restarted the modem, repeatedly. Also, I am plugged directly into your service drop, so this is not a problem with my house wiring.”

(The tech ignores what I just said and starts following his script:)

Technician #1: “So, you are experiencing a lack of Internet connectivity. Have you restarted the modem?”

Me: “Yes. As I told you, I’ve restarted the modem and am plugged directly into your service drop.”

Technician #1: “Okay, sir. Let me see if I can ping your modem.” *pauses* “I am unable to ping your modem. This most likely indicates a problem with the wiring in your house, as we have no reports of service outages in your area.”

Me: “It is not the wiring in my house. As I told you, I am plugged directly into your service drop. I am bypassing the wiring in my house entirely. It cannot possibly be the wiring in my house.”

Technician #1: “Sir, I understand what you are saying.” *obviously he does not* “But I assure you, it is most likely the wiring in your house. If we have to send out a technician and he finds that it is the wiring in your house, you will be subject to a $150 service fee.”

Me: “I understand that. It is definitely not the wiring in my house, because I am connected to your service drop.”

Technician #1: “Before I send out a technician, I need you to check the connections in your house to be sure that you do not have a wiring problem.”

(At this point, I give up. The technician clearly has his script, and has no capacity or desire to think beyond it. I politely end the call and then call back. This time, I hit the jackpot and get a tech who immediately understands what I tell him:)

Technician #2: “Well, that pretty much proves your house wiring is not at fault. Have you tried logging into the modem…” *gives me instructions* “…to see if it is getting any signal?”

(I do what he says and confirm that it is not.)

Technician #2: “Okay. I’ll set up a service call for you for tomorrow.”

(This tech then told me that he was glad someone called up who actually knew what to check. He chatted with me for a few minutes about how little the general public understands and how he was glad I knew about things like service drops and general troubleshooting. The next day a service technician came out, and my Internet was working, but I explained about the outages and the correlation to rain. He spent a few hours in the neighborhood and finally came back to tell me he had found the problem. Squirrels had chewed their way into an equipment box on a pole and, when it rained, water would get in and short out connections. Had I not done my own testing at the service drop, they wouldn’t have found the problem, because they would have tested my connection when it was working fine and assumed it was my problem.)

(I am a manager at a popular discount store, known for being constantly understaffed and having ridiculously long lines. We also don’t have the nicest customers. I’ve had a lot of people quit for getting cussed and screamed at over things that were out of their control. It’s a Friday, and it’s already a s***show. Two cashiers called out, and another cashier had to leave in the middle of her shift for a family emergency, leaving one cashier and me to run the registers and get through a line of 50 to 60 people, and a fitting room attendant who is also swamped with people. A little old lady comes up to my register with two large and heavy dining sets.)

Old Woman: “I know it’s very busy, but do you think it would be possible to have someone bring these dishes to my car? I’m parked in the first row, so it’s not very far.”

(I bite my lip. Our shopping carts don’t go outside because they have a pole attached that stops them. Due to liability, employees aren’t allowed in the parking lot while on the clock, not even to help take purchases to a customer’s car. Not to mention, only three people are working in the store right now, so even if we could, one of us would have to hop off register to help, leaving only one cashier.)

Me: “Okay, ma’am… Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to step into the parking lot while on the clock. But if you would like to pull your car up to the curb, you can leave your cart here and I will watch it for you. One of us can hop off register and get it into your car for you.”

(The woman nods and accepts the help as-is. Then, a younger, male customer in line starts to push his way to the front of the line, abandoning his cart right in the middle.)

Male Customer: “Don’t worry about it, miss. I’ll help take her things to her car.”

Old Woman: “Oh, no, you don’t have to do that. You’ll lose your place in that line. I’m sure I can manage.”

Male Customer: “I’m in no hurry. I don’t mind waiting again.”

(The male customer turns to address the line.)

Male Customer: “Y’all can just push my cart out of the line; I’ll come back for it later.”

(His cart is bordered by a middle-aged couple and a woman with her kid in a car seat. They all shake their heads.)

Middle-Aged Couple: “We’ll push your cart through the line. We’ll save your spot.”

Male Customer: “Are you sure? You don’t have to do that.”

Mom Customer: “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got you!”

(I thank the customer profusely for helping the old woman out so that neither I, nor my cashier, have to sacrifice the current speed of the line. He gives me a big smile.)

Male Customer: “My mama would have my throat if I didn’t help someone in need. Y’all just keep doing what you’re doing; you’re doing a great job!”

(The guy picked up both of the dish sets at the same time and walked them to the old woman’s car. While he was gone, his shopping cart skipped the entire line to the front, so when he got back, he was next to checkout. Just shows that sometimes there are very good and nice people in this world!)

(I am due to meet with my boss at 4:00 pm one Friday afternoon for our monthly one-on-one catch-up meeting. At 2:45 pm I get a call from him about said meeting. I think he might have had something come up and is cancelling on me; this has happened many times before. Instead, he comes out with this gem:)

Boss: “So, I really can’t be bothered working any more today. You want to get out of here early and go get a beer with me, instead?”

(Of course, I immediately agreed. Best meeting ever!)

We were at a big box store with a pharmacy to get my best friend’s stepmother’s long-acting insulin shot refilled, because she was completely out. She’s a type-1 brittle diabetic, so it’s a definite necessity for her on top of mealtime shots. We found out we didn’t have enough funds for the long-acting insulin, so the stepmother became very upset — with reason, since it was more than it should have been. So, after she calmed down and decided to risk it, the stepmother and I went looking for our few staple foods we needed to complete that night’s dinner, while my best friend’s dad went to try to overdraft to pay for the prescription.

About ten minutes later, we saw him walking towards us, teary-eyed, and we asked what happened. He told us that the kind pharmacist saw that his card was declined, and handed a pharmacy tech his debit card to pay for the prescription. He offered to pay the pharmacist back in two weeks, and the pharmacist refused. My friend’s stepmother and I immediately teared up. I asked if she wanted to go and thank him personally. We went and thanked him, and offered again to pay him back. He adamantly refused again, stating that it was no problem.

Sometimes, you find good people still exist out there, even in very unlikely places. I’ll never forget what he did, and I hope one day to pay it forward for somebody else.

(I am volunteering at a major international sporting event as a venue host, so I answer customers’ questions, show them to their seats, etc. All the flags of the participating nations in this particular event are hanging from the ceiling of the venue. I am also a huge geography nerd.)

Customer: “Excuse me; do you know which country has that white and maroon flag?”

Me: “That is Latvia.”

Customer: “Oh. What about that red, green, and white one?”

Me: “That’s Belarus.”

Customer: “Did you guys have to memorize all this stuff?”

Me: “No, sir, you just happened to ask the right person about this stuff.”