From November 19, 2019
The high spot of our day so far is a visit to the laundromat.
Yesterday I brought in one of Patty’s coats to be cleaned, and we picked it up this morning. The cheerful little woman who runs the place held up the coat with a big smile and said, “Look how nice it came out!” It looked like it had just come off the rack. “My wife is going to be very pleased when she sees it,” I said. “Yes, please make sure you show it to her,” she answered.
It’s always a pleasure to deal with someone who takes pride in her work and wants to do a good job for her customers. And it should be appreciated. Any one of us can make the world a better place just by showing our appreciation to all the different people who serve us in so many different ways. We’ve become very fond of our supermarket checkout clerks, the folks at our local Chinese restaurant, and the local merchants with whom we regularly do business–and now our laundress, too. These people deserve to be appreciated. And we’d be hard put to do without them.
Loving your neighbor doesn’t have to be a Broadway production number. And we all have it in our power to do it–in those little ways that have a way of adding up into something very good.
Just simply saying thank you is vital. I had surgery recently, and I made a point of thanking the surgeon and complimenting the various staff. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how much help we get from other people. Garbage men are not usually held in high esteem, but they sure make our life better. I was blessed, today, to hear from a young fellow I hired, over 15 years ago. He still works at the same place, having succeeded me after I moved on, and when he got his 15 year service award, he mentioned me by name, to his coworkers. Hearing that made me feel ten feet tall.
That is a good thing to do, and to hear someone say.
It was a heartwarming experience. It’s strange how life works out, and you find yourself caring about people you never imagined that you would even know.