Wouldn’t it be Nice

This morning, as I was reading through the updates of my face book friends, I was proud to see that one of them posted about standing up for a store clerk who was being verbally abused by a rude customer.  When my friend was told by the rude customer that it was none of his business, he replied that she’d made it his business when she started her verbal assault in front of him and everyone else waiting in line.
Once upon a time, I was a store clerk  in a small fabric store.  While the majority of customers I waited on were polite and courteous, sadly, the ones I remember were the rude ones.  Like the customer who got tired of waiting in line and threw their money on the counter and left with their “purchases”  or the one who got angry when I said I couldn't  make change for a hundred dollar bill on the purchase of a spool of thread.
Years ago, I was at a second hand store waiting to buy a vintage sewing box.  The line was long, but the clerk could not help but greet each customer warmly and chat during the check out process.  Tired of the delay that the clerk’s small talk created,  people got mad.  Some complained loudly and expressed that the clerk should “speed things up” and others left before it was their turn to pay.  I continued to wait patiently, and when it was my turn to be helped, I was nice.  I chatted with the clerk, and told him I thought he was doing a wonderful job in spite of the insults hurled at him.   He thanked me in return and said he just didn’t understand why some people were so impatient and got so angry.
A week or so later, the store burned to the ground and the clerk, who I  learned later was also the owner, died in the fire.  I was heartbroken.  I could still picture his face.   But I was also so very thankful for the way I had treated him.
The world would be such a wonderful place if we could all just be kind to one another.  I know.   It’s  probably an oversimplification.
But my vintage sewing box says otherwise.