We’re Proud Of You, Author!

I’m a vendor for a big beverage company. My job is to travel to various stores in the area throughout the week and stock the shelves with our product that gets delivered by our trucks.

I work alone, which works out great for me because I’m autistic and find it challenging to socially interact with coworkers and customers. I am friendly and polite when the occasional grocery employee or customer greets me or asks me a question, but it does give me anxiety and I don’t speak to anyone unless someone speaks to me, first. (This may seem rude to neurotypical folks, but I promise I don’t mean it to be rude; it’s just how my brain works.) I also am horrible at recognizing or remembering people because eye contact makes me uncomfortable, if I even look at someone at all.

It’s Monday, and I’m stocking the shelves from a new pallet of products that came in when I see an older gentleman hovering near an area of our bottled drinks.

Customer: “Do you have those little bottles of [Drink]?”

Me: “Oh, they’re usually right here, but I see we appear to be out at the moment.”

Customer: “My wife likes the little bottles because the bigger ones are too much for her to finish at one time.”

Me: “I understand. Well, we did get a delivery today, and I still have a couple of pallets to do. They might have come in on one of those. I’ll go check for you, but it might be a minute.”

Customer: “Thank you! I’ll just wait here.”

I go to the back and sort quickly through the remaining pallets for the bottles he wants but with no luck. I return to the soda aisle after about five minutes, and he’s still patiently waiting in the same spot.

Me: “Unfortunately, none of them were delivered today. We’ve been having a shortage problem on that flavor lately. I’m sorry for making you wait.”

Customer: “Oh, it’s no problem. I’ll just get the regular bottles for now. Thank you for checking.”

The interaction was pleasant but was still challenging and draining for me, plus I feel bad for being out of something the man was trying to buy for his wife. I go about my day and eventually forget about it.

Fast forward to later that week, on Thursday. I’m back at the store I was at on Monday and it’s another delivery day. I’m unloading a pallet and see the smaller bottles of [Drink] that the customer from Monday was looking for. I smile, thinking of him, and put them on the shelf, hoping he will return now that we have them back in stock.

About an hour later, I’m buried in a shelf, stacking large packs of soda, when I see a customer in my peripheral, hovering near our shelves. I pop my head out and immediately recognize the customer from Monday. Without even waiting for him to say anything…

Me: “Oh, good, you’re back! We got the small bottles in, today. Would you like some?”

The customer smiles broadly, apparently pleased that I remembered him.

Customer: “Oh, yes, thank you!”

I smiled and handed him a pack of the bottles, and he thanked me and then wandered off, and I happily resumed stocking.

I know this might seem like a “non-story” to some, but due to how autism affects my brain, it was a real accomplishment for me that I not only remembered a random customer from Monday to Thursday but immediately recognized him without prompting. Also, given the amount of social interaction, it didn’t frazzle me like usual, and I took the verbal initiative the second time I saw him, which I rarely do. This may be commonplace for others, but to me, it felt like I won the gold medal of human interaction for the week, and it gave me more confidence. I’m very grateful to that gentleman and his quest for the little bottles for his wife.

This story is part of our end-of-year Feel Good roundup for 2022!

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Read the Feel Good 2022 roundup!