Sometimes, recognizing the beauty of each day is difficult because we all get caught up in our own lives. But this Dollar General worker gave one customer a simple reason to smile — kindness.
In Illinois, Emily Duncan works in one of the hundreds of Dollar General stores across the country. Just like almost any other job in retail, the position required interaction with customers. And we all know the saying, “The customer is always right.”
Although this particular customer wasn’t giving Emily a hard time, the elderly woman backed up the check-out line. As Emily scanned her items, the woman told her all about her life, unaware of the customers behind her in line.
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Instead of rushing the lady along, Emily simply listened and smiled. Just like other customers want to get through the line as quickly as possible, this old lady wanted to take her time and connect with the cashier. Both types of customers deserve the same kind of service — with a smile.
The man next in line noticed Emily’s efforts to brighten the elderly customer’s day. It stuck with him to the point of sharing the story online. He uploaded the video of himself talking about what he witnessed and next thing he knew, the video went viral.
The man that shared his story was Gerald Swindle, a professional bass angler. He explained that he ran to the shop to grab a couple things before going hunting and was in a hurry. Initially, he felt irritated by the 85-year-old lady’s stories, but Emily’s patience made him take a minute to think.
He said, “You showed me what people are to be. You should always embrace that and not want to rush people out of a conversation. Sometimes it might be the only person they talk to this week. You inspired me and sometimes I need that, so I appreciate it.”
The video has over a million views and caught the attention of the Dollar General corporate team. Leadership members from the corporate office showed up to the small town store with flowers and a plaque to recognize her kindness. They also donated $1000 to the local grade school in her name.
All of the attention came as quite a surprise to the humble Dollar General worker.
“This is all kind of surreal,” she said. “I never expected this to all come about because to me, it was just a regular day. I just went to work and was doing my job.”
In response to her sudden recognition, Emily continued saying, “What I’ve learned is so amazing – the impact you can have on people just by being yourself, working at the Dollar General. This is awesome.”
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We could all use moments and stories like this to encourage ourselves to take a step back and really appreciate this blessing called life. And every single one of us can spread more kindness.
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:31-32
h/t: Sunny Skyz, The Southern
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Dollar General