INSPIRASUNS

Last week, I shared an experience my husband and I had at the grocery store in this little blog. It was about the service at the check-out line and the checker’s visible unhappiness. The title of that little blog was “It Made Me Sad.” It did make me sad, seeing how unhappy the young man was ringing up our items.

Well, what a difference a day and a store make. Yesterday I again made the weekly trek to the grocery store. Since we are staying in a different location while our home is having some remodeling done, I went to a different store closer to where we are. I have to admit I was dreading the experience. I’d been to this store before, not long after we moved here. It’s much larger than the one in our neighborhood, and it’s laid out totally differently which makes my time there like twice what it would normally be.

I pulled into the parking lot and realized how busy it was, great I thought. I found a space and started towards the door, only to realize that it was “exit only”. I had to make my way down the sidewalk to the “entrance only” doors. Ya, we weren’t starting off well.

Once inside I grabbed my cart and started the trek through the aisles. It wasn’t long before I noticed something, the positive feel of the store. Everyone, including customers, was happy. I listened as people ordered things from the bakery and the deli. The workers were very helpful and said things like, “May I help you?”. There were please and thank yous throughout the place! My mood actually improved as I made my way around the store for what I needed.

Now for the final test, the checkout line. Again, this store is much larger and actually has two banks of lanes if you can picture it. Not kidding there are like 20 lanes, 10 in the front and another row of 10 behind them, and none of them are self-check! I started looking for the shortest lane, when a tiny little woman, well she was a young woman, like 17, caught my eye and waived me to her lane. I put everything up on the belt and made my way to the end. As I did so the young lady said, “Hello, how are you today, did you find everything you needed?”. I told her I was fine and I had indeed, and I returned the question, “How are you?”. She said she was great and was having a wonderful day. We small-talked as she finished. I paid the bill, and she handed me my receipt and said, “I hope the rest of your day is wonderful”. The bagger put the last bag in the cart and also said, “Have a great day”. OK then, what a difference a store makes!

I should also share, that as I was leaving and looking at all the check-out lanes, where probably 60% of them were open, well, they were all staffed with young adults. Just like the young man who I mentioned in the little blog last week. I noticed that these young people were all smiling, they were interacting with customers, they were making the experience positive.

In the parking lot, I loaded the bags into the car and then headed to put the cart in the cart corral. A young man was there collecting carts and came to me to get mine. He thanked me for bringing it, and I said thank you to him, he finished with “Have a great day”. Again, a young man maybe 17. Yes, what a difference a day and a store make!

Maybe it’s a stretch but I can’t help but wonder if Father was showing me this yesterday so that I don’t give up hope on your young people. Maybe I was a little harsh on “Jayden”, the young man who checked me out last week with such an unpleasant attitude. Or maybe, Jayden needs to make his way to this store so his peers can show him how positive things can be 🙂 .

I’ll be back to this store over the coming weeks, and who knows, maybe I’ll continue coming even after we’re back in our place. Actually, I think my goal is to put a smile on Jayden’s face. I’m not going to give up on our young people.

Have a great day friends, and if you cross paths with a young person who isn’t quite so positive, find a way to make them smile and let them know they are valued. They are our future 🙂 .

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.