Day 4- Don the Shoe Salesman

I have been looking all over for a pair of plain, flat, leather brown boots. I did not think that this would be a tall order to fill, but apparently it is (hence the need to look all over). Today, at long last, I found them. And I had a coupon. And they were cheap to begin with. Fabulous.

As if that was not delightful enough, something magical happened when I went to the register to pay for them. Don, the shoe salesman, asked me a real question. It was not weather related. Then, he listened intently to my answer. What's even more, he had a five minute conversation with Tom and me and was attentive and funny and engaging. If I had to guess, I would say that Don is most certainly overworked and underpaid, especially this time of year. Yet, he made the time for real human interaction. He was not sighing and checking his watch after every customer. He was not pouting that he was at work while all of the people shopping around him were on vacation. He was smiling and conversing and making his corner of the department store a better place.

I catch myself sometimes making the excuse that I am "too busy" to do something. Sometimes I truly am insanely busy and don't have time to do everything that I want to. I can't help but think, though, that I am never too busy to make time for people. All it takes to connect with another human being is a five minute conversation, a little friendliness, a question asked and an answer listened to, a bit of effort.

Thank you, Don, you made my day.

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