Sunday, June 30, 2013
Poor baby!
My poor hubby, he has a fever and couldn't even eat Grampa's steak. I hope he feels better soon.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
A restored faith in humanity
Many service-based jobs can be incredibly thankless most of the time. In those rare instances when someone does bother to thank the service provider, that person tends to hold on to that sentiment as her or she has no idea when the next one may come along. In the midst of those people complaining because they either have not gotten what they want, or got what they wanted too late, or they couldn't accurately express what they wanted in the first place, leaving the service provider completely unable to fill the request.
At any rate, even more rare than the actual service provider getting praise, is when an outside person who is not at all involved in the situation, steps in and offers assistance without expecting anything in return. This person is often called the "Good Samaritan." Today, I first hand witnessed such an event and it went as follows...
A gentleman came to the desk to ask if he could get a new library card (shifting to my specific service profession, being a librarian). After looking him up in the system, I discovered that he was still in the system and that he owed $17.60 in late fines. I informed him of this, and updated his account with his correct contact information, etc. (This is not the uncommon part, this happens every single day I am at work.) Meanwhile, a lady was using one of our self-check outs to get her books. On her way out, she slapped $20 down on the counter and said "This is for his fines." Before I had the chance to say anything, she had left. I informed the gentleman what had just happened and promptly printed him out a receipt for the expense, got him a new library card and explained the policies of the library to him. He came up three times after that to thank me and to say that he must have a guardian angel, and that he told his wife and she scarcely could believe the whole story.
Every once in a grand while, if you keep your eyes peeled, you will find these types of situations. They do not come by often and they often occur in the blink of an eye, but they are there. It is moments like this one that remind me that humanity is not all bad, that there are good people in the world, and that I can run into them when least expected, if only I remember to keep my eyes peeled.
At any rate, even more rare than the actual service provider getting praise, is when an outside person who is not at all involved in the situation, steps in and offers assistance without expecting anything in return. This person is often called the "Good Samaritan." Today, I first hand witnessed such an event and it went as follows...
A gentleman came to the desk to ask if he could get a new library card (shifting to my specific service profession, being a librarian). After looking him up in the system, I discovered that he was still in the system and that he owed $17.60 in late fines. I informed him of this, and updated his account with his correct contact information, etc. (This is not the uncommon part, this happens every single day I am at work.) Meanwhile, a lady was using one of our self-check outs to get her books. On her way out, she slapped $20 down on the counter and said "This is for his fines." Before I had the chance to say anything, she had left. I informed the gentleman what had just happened and promptly printed him out a receipt for the expense, got him a new library card and explained the policies of the library to him. He came up three times after that to thank me and to say that he must have a guardian angel, and that he told his wife and she scarcely could believe the whole story.
Every once in a grand while, if you keep your eyes peeled, you will find these types of situations. They do not come by often and they often occur in the blink of an eye, but they are there. It is moments like this one that remind me that humanity is not all bad, that there are good people in the world, and that I can run into them when least expected, if only I remember to keep my eyes peeled.
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