(I didn’t start drinking coffee until college because I never liked the taste, and like Jon Snow, I knew nothing about it. I have a [Fast Food Company] free drink coupon, and I decide to try a mysterious something called a “mocha frappe.” It is diluted enough that I can drink it, and it gives me a huge jolt of jittery energy. I start drinking them once in a while for an energy boost, but in a few years, this magical elixir loses its power and just gives me a sugar crash. Picture me, one morning, dragging my weary carcass through the doors of the popular coffee chain near my school, and up to the counter.)

Me: *hoarsely* “Um… I don’t really know what the different drinks are, and I don’t really like the taste of coffee. But I just pulled an all-nighter, my presentation is in twenty minutes, and mocha frappes don’t work for me anymore. Can you help?”

Barista: “Hey, no worries. I got you!”

(She flits around behind the counter, whips up a drink, and hands it to me.)

Barista: “Here, try this. Can you drink it?”

Me: *taking a sip, eyes widening* “Yeah!”

Barista: “Great! That’s a tall iced coffee with milk, four pumps of sweetener, and an espresso shot. I’ll write that down so you know what to ask for.”

(I thank her profusely, pay for my drink, and head for the doors while she cheers behind me.)

Barista: “You’ll do awesome on your presentation! You got this!”

(Best barista ever.)

(I am working on my 21st birthday and it is fairly slow at the restaurant. We have a reservation of five people and I take their table. They are very talkative, friendly, super awesome people. They mention that it is one of their birthdays and they are going to see a show afterward. I say that it is my birthday, as well — my 21st. They are so happy for me and ask me what I have planned after work. They joke around saying that their 21st birthdays were back in the early 1900s! I have some other tables, so I leave their almost $200 check and go to do my other work. I see that they are leaving so I walk over to the door to tell them goodbye and to enjoy the show they are seeing. The older woman that pays the bill leans over to me.)

Customer: “We left you a little birthday present. Enjoy your 21st; you only get one!”

Me: “Thank you so much! You should not have done that!”

(I walked over to the table and see that they had left a “Happy Birthday” note with $21 ON TOP of the 20% tip they left me for the bill. Not all customers are a**wipes!)

(I’m working at a coffee shop in Manhattan. Today is September 11, 2001, and it is about 20 minutes before the first reports of a plane hitting World Trade Center 1.)

Customer: “Can you hurry up? What is taking so d*** long to make my coffees?”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir. Usually, we have a large staff to take big orders but today most of the staff are out.”

Customer: *irritated* “Well, how is this my fault? You should be ready to take any orders that I give you! I have a big meeting at 9:00 at the World Trade Center! That makes me important and I should be the top priority!”

(I ignore him and continue making his drinks.)

Me: “Here you go, sir, your order of [ten different coffees] ready to go. Your total is [total].”

Customer: “About f****** time!”

(He rushes out, and then ten minutes later, the news stations start talking about that first plane. The whole ordeal of 9/11 happens. Then, about a week later, the same customer comes in with presumably his wife and daughter.)

Me: “Hello, sir, what is your order today?”

Customer: “Yeah, I’m not actually ordering anything, I just wanted to thank you.”

Me: “For what, sir?”

Customer: “I’m the jerk from last week yelling about his important meeting in Tower 1. The time it took for you to make my coffee made me just late enough that I was walking up to the building when the plane hit it.”

Me: *tearing up* “Oh, my God!”

Customer: “But that’s not important. You saved me from that horrible attack and I am still here for my wife and daughter.”

Customer’s Wife: *starts sobbing on her husband’s shoulder*

Customer’s Daughter: “Can I give you a hug?”

(I happily gave her a hug through my tears. Still to this day, knowing that I was able to save one family from those terrible attacks warms my heart.)

(I work at a pet store. My manager and I are clocking out of our shift. The phone in the office rings. After waiting a bit for someone on the clock to pick it up, my manager sighs and hits it on speaker.)

Manager: “Hi, this is [Store]. How can I help you?”

Child: *sounding no more than eight or nine years old* “Um, hi, uh, I was wondering if you guys got any bearded dragons in?”

Manager: “We did.”

Child: *excited gasp* “Okay! Bye!”

(The “customer” hung up, and my manager — who is a mom — immediately burst into giggles. It was very cute.)

(I’ve been going through a rough time lately. There’s been so much going on with my work that I’ve been struggling with a lot of things outside of work. My long-term boyfriend decided to take me out shopping to take my mind off of things. We are looking at new aftershaves for him and are talking and laughing when I notice a group of three Asian men talking amongst themselves nearby. I notice that they are talking to each other using British Sign Language. Both my parents are deaf so I’m proficient myself and am currently studying my NVQs in it in my spare time. I keep glancing over and they notice me. I don’t want to seem rude or make them uncomfortable so I turn my attention back to what my boyfriend is doing. After a while, I notice that the men are trying to talk to the sales assistant but they aren’t getting anywhere. Knowing how difficult communication can be for my parents, I decide to help out.)

Me: *in sign language* “Hey, sorry, I noticed you were having some difficulty. Can I help?”

(They stare at me in shock before [Man #1] reacts.)

Man #1: “Yeah, I wanted to buy this fragrance. Can you tell her?”

(I relay the message and the lady tells me it is out of stock.)

Me: “It looks like they’re out of stock of this one. One second.”

(I turn back to the lady and ask if it would be possible to order it instore as most can. She tells me they can’t do that but they can go online to do it. I tell the men that.)

Man #2: “How do you know sign language?”

Me: “My parents are deaf and they taught me as I was growing up. That’s why I was looking at you earlier; I hope you don’t think I was being rude!”

Man #1: “No, you weren’t. Thank you for the help. We’ll order this online.”

Man #3: *to [Man #1]* “Maybe you should buy her a meal to say thank you.”

(We all laughed and I waved them off.)

Me: “My mum has difficulty sometimes and I’ve always been there to help her; it was no trouble.”

(They thanked me again and left smiling. I was smiling, too, when I turned back to my boyfriend, who was smiling at me with pride in his eyes. I told my mum later that day and she was proud, too. To those men, I know that there are not a lot of Asian men or women in the deaf community and it can be difficult but I’ll always do my best to help. You owe me nothing because you helped me decide for certain that I want to be a British sign language interpreter one day. I’ll get there, so thank you!)