My daughter and I both regularly shop at the same grocery store (but not at the same time, generally). I had no idea how frequently both of us went there until the following occurred.

It was Halloween, and my daughter wanted some special Halloween toys that were being sold. She had gotten one for her young son, but they had run out and she had expressed disappointment to the clerk that she couldn’t get one for her daughter.

I was unaware of this as I went through the line a few days later. The same clerk was making conversation with me when she looked at me more closely.

Clerk: “Aren’t you [Daughter]’s father?”

Me: “Yes, I am, as a matter of fact.”

Clerk: “Oh, she was here a few days ago and wanted one of these Halloween toys.”

She reaches under the counter to pull it out.

Clerk: “She said she wanted it for her daughter. This is the last one, and I’ve been keeping it for her. Maybe you could tell her that I’ve got it here?”

Me: “Okay, I’ll do that.”

I quickly whipped out my phone, called my daughter, and verified that she still wanted the toy, and a few minutes later, I left having purchased it for her. Later, we both commented on how kind it was that this clerk had held it for us and how astute she was to realize that we were even related.

I know that some people working in retail can be difficult (because the job is difficult), but so many of them are also like this woman: absolute gems!

Our large store is very busy after Christmas, and I am working the customer service desk doing returns. A woman in line is being very vocal about her wait.

Customer: “Seriously? It’s after Christmas and they only have three people working the returns? This is ridiculous.”

A few seconds later:

Customer: “This is crazy! I am in a rush! I have very important appointments to keep today! This is really inconsiderate to their customers!”

A few seconds later:

Customer: “This is taking foreverrrrrr! Don’t they know some of us are in a rush?!”

We finally get to her.

Customer: “Finally! You’re all working way too slowly! I need a refund on these useless things I got for Christmas.”

Me: “Do you have the gift receipts?”

Customer: “No, but I know you sell them.”

Me: “I can process the returns, but without a receipt, I can only offer store credit.”

Customer: “I want cash.”

Me: “I can call my manager over to—”

Customer: “Do it! And hurry! I’m in a rush!”

My manager gets there in less than three minutes, and due to the crazy number of customers we’re dealing with today, he agrees to do the return.

Manager: *As he’s processing the returns* “Sorry, some of these items might take longer as they’re now on sale, and I have to manually adjust the price.”

Customer: “Oh, they are? How much cheaper are they?”

Manager: “Well, this jacket was $59.99 before Christmas, and now it’s $39.99.”

Customer: “Oh, I’ll buy it back at the sale price, then!”

Manager: “I would need to process it back into inventory before we could re-sell it, ma’am. That might take a while.”

Customer: “Oh, that’s fine. I can wait. I don’t have anywhere else to be…”

Me: “…”

My drive to work takes me past a pretty little church with a huge, beautiful lawn and a good-sized pond. Year-round, I can expect to see all kinds of waterfowl enjoying the pond. (I think the church has a heated shelter for the birds, but I don’t know for sure.) Naturally, they put up a large nativity display for the holidays, and they set it up near the bank of the pond. 

The church marks the turning point in my commute, so it’s on my right as I’m going to work and then ahead of me as I’m going home. I’m on my way home one afternoon, and I see something big and white in the middle of the nativity scene. I start to grin as I realize what has likely happened, and I burst out laughing when my suspicions are confirmed: a big ol’ American goose has evicted baby Jesus from the manger.

Merry Goosemas, everyone!

I am working at a home and garden store the night before Christmas Eve. There are about five Christmas trees left.

Manager: “Can you announce the last of the trees are on sale for $3?”

A couple hours later about fifteen minutes until closing I have one tree left. It’s an eleven-foot Charlie Brown tree. A young man stops by:

Customer: “Are there any more trees?”

Me: “Yes, we have this last one for $3.”

This man is there with his daughter who seems to be four or five years old. She’s excited and was jumping up and down:

Customer’s Daughter: “Can we Daddy, can we?”

The man takes out his wallet and when he opens it, I see two one-dollar bills. He very quietly and calmly apologizes to his daughter:

Customer: “I’m so sorry, sweetheart but we won’t be able to get a tree this year.”

With tear-filled eyes, she tells her father:

Customer’s Daughter: “It’s okay, daddy. I’m not mad.”

I was almost crying myself. I made up my mind to fix this sad situation and caught the man as he was just about to leave the store. I told him that my manager had just told me to sell the last tree for one dollar. 

I will never forget the look on his face. They came back to pay; the little girl was almost doing cartwheels. I rang up the tree and told him where to go pick it up. I wished them a very Merry Christmas.

I’m working my part-time job at donut place that also serves hot breakfasts. It’s during Christmas and it’s completely dead. I have no idea why I am even here. This is on a college campus to boot. But then, this woman comes in, still in her pajamas:

Customer: “I need everything!”

Me: “What do you mean, ma’am?”

Customer: “The big breakfast I was going to make for my family, all the meat and eggs, it’s been torn into by my dog in the middle of the night!”

She hasn’t slept since 2 AM (the dog also ate some chocolate, so I am guessing there were medical concerns) and needs breakfast for fifteen people. It’s just me and the manager; a really chill older lady. We give each other a quick look, and get right to work. We fill boxes in minutes and throw in extra everything while she waits at a table.

My manager brings her an extra-large coffee, on the house, and she breaks into tears.

Within ten minutes we’ve loaded her up with bagels, muffins, donuts, croissants, and enough coffee to give a hummingbird a heart attack. 

We help her load it into her car, and she gives us each a $50 tip and drives home. That was my only good day at that job.