After spending an evening downtown, my mom and I stopped for gas before heading home. She had heard a rumor that gas was cheaper there, unfortunately, like many other rumors, this particular one that had potentially filled our hearts (and our wallets) with joy was simply not true. We stopped at the Exon station despite the disappointment and after much whining about my itchy throat my mom handed me a five dollar bill to buy a drink and of course a snickers for herself as well.
When I got to the cashier we exchanged the regular pleasantries. At first I was surprised by this, having not expected for her to say anything at all. The cashier commented that it must be snickers day. “Why?” I asked. To which she replied that she’d been selling a lot of them today. I laughed and said that maybe they should make it a national holiday. She laughed too, “National Snickers Day, that’s a cool one.” Laughing I added, “and to think, I helped start it all.”
Every time I retell this story I become suddenly aware of two things: 1. I am terrible at writing dialogue and 2. I say some alarmingly silly things. However, neither of the two is the point of the story. After I left the store I told my mom, who laughed with me (or at me, I am really unsure). The cashier’s friendliness was wonderful; it truly turned my mood around. This anecdote is proof that it is true that a little kindness can go a long way. You never know what battle someone could be up against or what affect your encounter could have on them. I have encountered rude sales people on too many occasions. For a fraction of a second I justified their bad behavior, if it weren’t for all of the terrible sales people the pleasant ones wouldn’t be nearly as lovely because it would be the norm, but I quickly changed my mind deciding that my standards for the world are higher than that. When you work with people, even briefly, you have the power to help and inspire people on a daily basis and you may never know if you do, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to make a difference.
David Zemens responds:
Posted: May 23rd, 2007 at 1:21 pm →
I think we all can “Pay It Forward” a little more often. It’s nice to be reminded how simple things can have an impact on someone’s day. Thanks for the reminder, Sarah.
Jonathan Fenocchi responds:
Posted: May 23rd, 2007 at 9:05 pm →
An itchy throat and a gas price disappointment can easily cause you to become distraught. It’s amazing how a little kindness can turn such a frustrating experience into one memorable enough for you to reflect back on later, and even decide to write about it. It’s truly a testament to the kindness of the salesperson you encountered.
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: May 30th, 2007 at 1:05 am →
Better kind than cruel. Both are contagious, so it’s a matter of what a person wants to spread, knowing full well it’ll come back to them.
Sarah, if you want to write dialog, I have added a special class to your style sheets called the “dialog” class. It’s used in either a paragraph, like this:
<p class="dialog">"I only get one stinkin' line?" he asked.</p>Or in a
div, like this:<div class="dialog">
This would be a larger dialog exchange between two or more characters.
</div>
I wrote an article about it back in December if you want to learn how best to use this new class.