It’s the littlest thing. A minor act of kindness. A joke. A smile.
Sometimes you don’t know you’ve woke up on the wrong side of the bed until it’s too late. You’re the person in the house everyone wants to avoid today. The person in the office who is getting a lot of work done coz they’re not talking much. The customer in the shop who has bags under their eyes and are buying a ready meal to eat tonight; Microwave, 3 mins, bedtime.
I walked out of Sainsbury’s pushing the small trolley full of shopping (Bags for Life forgotten again, kick myself everytime) and made my way to the boot of my car. It’s not very busy around the evening time and the carpark is pretty bare. It’s not my safety I’m thinking about too much – it’s whether or not I can get away with leaving the empty trolley in an empty bay…
As soon as my head raised to begin my ninja-style search, I saw there was a trolley attendant doing his rounds. How lucky- my conscience would remain clear, not that I deserved the luck after my day of moody attitude.
He was whistling as he worked, despite the bitterly cold night. “Do you mind if I give you this one aswell?” I asked politely, though of course in those situations you know he can’t very well say “Er, nope.” Still whistling, he gladly nodded and recieved the trolley, so that I could be on my way that little bit quicker and he would bear the extra weight to push along to the side of the store.
I got into my car and then assessed the quickest way out. As their were only a few cars dotted around, I thought I would try my hand at a 180 degree turn to point in the right direction. This proved to be ambitious. I now blocked the way for cars to enter the car park. I had to be quick and cool – not gonna happen. I grew frustrated at myself, when who should appear in view watching my every maneuvre but the friendly neighbourhood trolley attendant.
He folded his arms and shook his head with pursed lips; I could almost hear him thinking “Child, please, that wasn’t gonna happen was it.” I gave him a “Well I tried!” smile and sighed heavily. He then proceeded to guide me while I reversed and sorted myself out and was soon out of harms way. When I say harm I mean further embarrasment. I looked up to mouth a thankyou and recieved a sarcastic round of applause and finally a cheery wave, to which I waved back and drove away towards home. Smiling.
Now that was a very long story of a barely 3 minute account, but it was the principle of this stranger that reminds me how a little goes a long way. I remained content and high-spirited for the rest of the night as a result of this selfless act- not just the helping out and politeness but the informal and sarcastic little actions that did not intend to brighten a young lady’s dull day.
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