I’m an Indian-American. It is November 9, 2016, the day after an unthinkable presidential election just happened.

After spending the morning in shock and anger, and apologizing to my Muslim friends for this horrible election, I head out for lunch. I deliberately choose a small Thai restaurant… one that doesn’t have blaring TVs.

When I enter, I am dismayed to see that I am the only non-white customer. Feeling very nervous and wary, I ask for a table away from these other customers, and brace myself for some very unpleasant, overheard “celebratory election conversations.”

Instead, I heard nothing but normal, everyday discussions, on families, Thanksgiving, etc. As they left the restaurant, several people also smiled at me in the familiar “quick hello” way I’ve known all my life in America.

I am very grateful to these customers, for giving me some peace of mind and hope, on a day when I needed it the most.

(I work at an entertainment retail store. One of our services is buying back used movies, books, CDs, and video games, and you can get cash or store credit. However, we don’t give very much cash back. A young couple with a baby girl comes in with five bags of things to buy back. They look like they’ve had it really hard, and are in desperate need of some money. After processing all the items in our system, we can only take one of the bags. The couple are the first people in my line. A second customer comes up just as I tell the woman what I can offer.)

Me: “Ma’am, I can give you $[small amount] in cash, or $[small amount] in store credit.”

(It is a very low price, and the woman looks devastated.)

Customer #1: “Really? That’s all you can give me? What about the stuff in the other bags? Why can’t I sell those?”

Me: “I’m afraid we aren’t selling the other items you brought in, or they aren’t up to our policy standards.”

Customer #1: *sighs* “I guess I’ll take the cash, then.”

(I have her sign the receipt. I have to leave to make a copy of the receipt, but I’m not so far away that I can’t see and hear what goes on in my till. The second customer is making funny faces at the toddler, who is giggling up a storm. He has one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. Then he grabs one of the toys from the till – a Hello Kitty light-up fan – and pulls out his wallet. He gets the mother’s attention.)

Customer #2: “Excuse me, miss? I would like to give this to you, and buy this toy for your little girl.”

(I can clearly see that he takes $200 from his wallet and hands it out to her.)

Customer #1: “Oh, no, please, we can’t take your money. That’s way too generous.”

Customer #2: “I don’t think so. Actually, I don’t think it’s enough. Not after what your daughter did.”

Customer #1’s Husband: “Why, what did she do?”

Customer #2: *grinning widely* “She stole my heart. Now, I insist that you take the money and the toy. Chances are I’ve been where you are, and I wish someone had done this for me. You deserve it for taking such good care of her.”

(I came back to give her the cash I owed her, just in time to see the tearful woman slip the $200 in her purse. The second customer purchased the toy for the girl before his own items. The husband shook his hand, thanking him over and over. The woman hugged him, blessing him, and the little girl happily waved goodbye as she left with the new toy.)

(I am ringing up a customer’s purchase, around $30. He pays with a $50 so I hand back a $20 plus some coins.)

Customer: “No, keep the change.” *hands me back the $20, keeps the coins*

Me: “I’m sorry, but I’m not actually allowed to take tips.”

(Our store does in fact have a very strict “no tips” policy. Keeping a tip is grounds for termination.)

Customer: “Well, I just got paid and I have a bit of spare cash, so why don’t you just keep this and buy yourself a coffee or something?”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but I really can’t take this!”

Customer: *looks at me, and then at the other two cashiers with me, who currently don’t have any customers* “Well… I guess $20 is pretty hard to split between three people…” *pulls out wallet and gives me another $20 and $50* “That makes $90, right? You girls treat yourselves!”

(The customer walked out as we tried to tell him that increasing the tip wasn’t what we were trying to get him to do. All three of us cashiers looked at each other blankly. We ended up calling our manager because we had no idea what to do. At first he got a bit upset with us for not giving the customer his money back. But after reviewing the security cameras he changed his tune and told us we looked pretty funny constantly trying to get this man to take the money back and him responding by giving us more instead. The money ended up going to the local charity our store raises money for.)

(I work for a well-known retail pharmacy and it’s about 6:00 pm, right when people are getting off work and picking up their prescriptions on their way home. I’m working the drive-thru and both of my lanes are backed up by at least three cars.)

Customer #1: “What the f*** is taking so long?”

Customer #2: “How long does it take to put pills in a bottle?”

Customer #3: “Y’all’s service has gone downhill. I’ve been waiting 30 minutes for my script.”

(Finally, when I reach my last car, I reach out and hand this lady her prescription and almost immediately, she places a $5 bill in my hand.)

Customer #4: “I know you’re working really hard. Go buy yourself a little snack and a Coke to get you through your day.”

(The gesture was so small, but it made my day and my week so much better.)

I work in the loyalty/retention department for the largest telecom in Canada. I have been doing this job for over three years now, but I will always remember the one older lady I made cry, in the best possible way, about six months into my tenure.

This lady called in, apologizing, because she was going to have to cancel her TV services. Her husband had passed away and she could no longer afford the bill, which was over $300, but she needed to keep her home phone with Canada/US/international calling, and the Internet because her family was spread out all over the world and she would call or Skype with her children and grandchildren.

Now, this couple had obviously never called in about their services once they were set up, as they were on old, expensive, grandfathered plans that had not been available for over 10 years.

I started talking to her, asking about the kids and grandkids, and what channels/tv shows she liked. Did she watch the European football? (no, it was her late husband; she didn’t watch any sports), What about the American new channels (nope, just the local news at 6). I found out they have had the same phone number for over 40 years and she was quite proud of the fact that they had been the first on their street to have “high speed Internet.” Meanwhile, I am looking at her past bills, long distance charges, Internet usage patterns, etc.

After about 20 minutes of just talking I asked her, “Ma’am, do you WANT to cancel the TV or do you feel you HAVE to in order to save money? Because the plans you are on for home phone and Internet will be approximately $185. But if I change you to new, in market plans, you can keep your TV with [channels], phone with all your features and LD, and an Internet plan with enough usage allowance to more than cover what you normally use, for about $150.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, long enough that I asked “Are you still there, ma’am?”

Then I hear a hiccup and she is saying, “You can do that for me? I can keep my TV?” as she starts crying and thanking me.

She then asks for my manager and gave me a ‘kudos’ for being such a good employee and helping her out.

There are the customers I love to help. They are truly deserving of “loyalty” discounts and they are the reason I still want to go to work.