(We close in five minutes and since it has been a slow night, my coworker and I have turned off the lights in the cases and wrapped the pastries. A customer walks in and my coworker turns on the lights in the cases.)

Customer: “Are you closed?”

Me: “No, sir. We close in just a few minutes.”

Customer: “Oh! I’m so sorry. I just need to pick up some coffee beans and dessert. I’ll be fast!”

Me: “Don’t worry, you’re okay.”

(I get his coffee beans while my coworker cuts him a slice of cake. She goes to the back to wash the knife while I ring him up.)

Me: “Your total is [total].”

Customer: “Here you go.” *hands me his credit card* “I am so sorry; I thought you closed at 9:00.”

Me: “It’s no problem, really.”

(He looks into the tip jar, which is empty because we have already split the tips.)

Customer: “Oh, your tip jar is empty. Well here, you two can split this.” *drops money into jar*

Me: “Thank you, have a good night!”

Customer: “You too!”

(I expected a dollar in the tip jar, but it was a $10 bill!)

(I am working the register over Christmas.)

Me: “Find everything today?”

Customer: “Yup.”

(Note: she is silent throughout the transaction, which includes a gift card.)

Me: “How much would you like on this?”

Customer: “Oh, sorry. Can I have $150?”

Me: “No problem.”

Customer: *after paying* “Can you do me a favor?” *she hands me the gift card* “The next customer you see that you think could use this, could you give it to them?”

Me: *stunned* “…Of course!”

(After a minute another customer comes up, a visibly upset young woman.)

Me: “Hi! How are you?”

Customer #2: “I’m okay, thanks.”

(Clearly she is not ok, but she is trying very hard to be pleasant. She is getting very basic items: milk, bread, eggs, etc. Nothing very festive.)

Me: “So your total comes out to $0.00.”

Customer: “What?”

Me: “The person before you gave me a $150 gift card to use for the next person I thought could use it. You look like you’re having a rough day, so here are your groceries, and there’s about $130 left on this card.”

(The customer just started crying. Once she could, she thanked me about 100 times. Made my whole Christmas season.)

(My three-year-old daughter and I are waiting to check out with a few odds and ends. Unfortunately, the store has only one lane open and several people are waiting in line. I don’t mind, as my daughter and I decide to pass the time playfully sword-fighting with paint stirrers. When I turn to the side, I notice the couple behind me has just one little ream of Post-Its.)

Me: *to the couple behind me* “Would you like to go ahead of us? You’ve got much fewer items than we do!”

Lady: “But… you have a kid!”

Me: “It’s fine! We’re just playing together! Go ahead!”

Lady: “But kids sometimes get bored of waiting. Are you sure?”

Me: “Of course! You just have one thing! She’ll be fine; I promise! C’mon, go ahead!” *I scoot aside*

Lady: “Wow! Thanks!”

(When it’s time for them to check out, the man holds up his hand to the cashier.)

Man: “I’ll be right back!”

(He scrambles over to the next aisle and picks up a package of M&Ms to add to the order. After paying, the man turns around with the package of candy and hands it to my daughter.)

Man: “Here you go, kiddo!” *to me* “Thanks again for letting us go ahead of you!”

(It really put a smile on the cashier’s face…and ours too!)

(I am walking home after work during a rather unpleasant snowstorm. Not expecting a snowstorm today, I am wearing a t-shirt and shorts. About 10 minutes into my 40-minute walk, a ‘not in service’ public bus pulls up and stops next to me.)

Driver: “Hey! Where are you headed?”

(I tell him the street I live on.)

Driver: “Not that far from out of my way. Hop on!”

Me: “Really? Thanks!”

(The bus driver then proceeded to drive right to my street and let me off, telling me to ‘keep warm’! People like him are awesome.)

Customer: “Looks like I’ll need cashback today.”

(The customer opens his wallet. It’s empty.)

Me: *laughs* “Oh, I know how that is.” *joking* “But I never even have the cash to get back.”

(The customer gets $40 in cash back. I hand him two twenties.)

Me: “Twenty and forty, have a good day, sir!”

Customer: “Thank you!”

(He walks off a moment, then turns around and tosses one of the twenties I handed him onto the register.)

Customer: “A little cash back for you.” *smiles*

(Before I can protest, he leaves. I wound up using that $20 to fill my gas tank. Thank you, sir!)