The Receipt That Sparked A Resolution

I’m starting my shift on the morning of New Year’s Eve. A woman approaches my checkout, and I start scanning her items. Then, she says:

Customer: “Do you remember me?”

Me: “I’m sorry, I don’t. I get a lot of customers.”

The customer smiles and shows me a carefully folded receipt from our store. It’s dated exactly one year ago, on last year’s New Year’s Eve. For a split second, I’m worried that this woman is about to ask for a refund on an item she bought last year, but then I notice a small written scrawl at the bottom of the receipt.

It’s my own handwriting.

Scrawl: “Cheering you on! I know you can do it!”

Suddenly, a memory comes rushing back into my brain.

Last year, I served a woman who was buying a lot of healthy items. She had been commenting about how she had received worrying news from her doctor that her health was being impacted by her diet, and she was at serious risk in the coming year if she didn’t change what she ate.

I remembered her looking worried and not feeling very hopeful for the year ahead. I remembered scrawling that little note on the receipt to provide what tiny encouragement I could.

This woman in front of me now is easily over a hundred pounds lighter than the woman I had served a year ago, but it is definitely the same woman.

Me: *Now beaming.* “Well… I guess you did it!”

Customer: “Yep! Clean bill of health from the doctor! Every day I felt tempted to fall into bad habits, I would look at your note. My family didn’t think I could do it, but I remembered that one cashier who believed in me, and I didn’t want to let her down.”

Me: “I… I don’t know what to say!”

Customer: “Nothing to say! I just wanted to let you know and wish you a happy New Year!”

I’m holding back tears as I scan her (still healthy) items. We have a little hug, and now she’s my weekly regular customer, sharing recipes on healthy food and such.