Convenience and Compassion : Autobiographical

I worked at a convenience store for a short while, I went to school during the day and wanted to pick up an overnight job. The training process for this place was rigorous, they really took the job seriously. There were about four of us behind this enormous counter in the middle of the store at an extremely busy part of the day, for some hands-on cashier training.

I don’t remember the rules, there were rules though. You had to get people out of there crazy fast, especially if there was a line, so we were chugging along quick as you please. A frazzled hurricane of a woman approached the counter, her not-quite-teenaged daughter eating a popsicle beside her. Put a couple dollars onto a gas pump outside. Pay for the popsicle. I smiled and rang her up, the daughter disappeared into the rest of the store.

It clearly wasn’t a good day for her, she never removed her sunglasses and as she brought some change out of her purse, it spilled all over the counter. This was the cusp of a breaking point. She stared at the coins like they had wronged her, like “of all the days” and “how can this be happening” and “if it wasn’t for this…”
I’ve been there. We’ve all been there. I got it. I leaned forward and together we counted out the right change, even though she looked on the verge of tears.
“YOU KNOW WHAT,” she said, smashed her purse down and charged behind the counter to envelop me in a huge hug. I hardly knew what to do but instinct kicked in and I caught her, hugging tight.
“Oh sweetie,” I said, my head over her shoulder. She was definitely crying then. I caught eyes of the other employees who looked alarmed. After barely a moment, she returned to the counter, saying thank you over and over again.
“Thank you, you’ve really helped,” she said, wiping tears away, and looked at my trainer, “You better give her a raise!”
The employees asked if I knew her. I had little way of explaining it.

She was a hurricane from the moment she walked into the store until she was gone. The only thing I did was smile, understand, and try to help. Let something else be the end of the world. This is just loose change. We’ll count it out together.