Wonderful People Still Exist

I want to say my night was just made, but that’s not an accurate statement. Not even saying my entire week was just made covers the incredible moment I experienced just now.
I saw this woman, and I liked her shirt (she and her friend were behind us in line at the register, looking at the five dollar movie bin), so I walked up to tell her so, and at the same time she accidentally knocked over a movie. So, I bent over to pick it up for her and said, “I like your shirt.” I didn’t really expect a much of a response, because I give compliments as often as I can (remember my previous post, “Being Nice Isn’t a Dying Art – Yet?), and usually I only get a thank you or a grunt or maybe even just a Look in response, but as I was bent over, she said, “Thank you, baby, and I love the way you dressed! You dressed real sharp, real sharp.” I stood back up and put the movie back, completely flustered, and said, “Thank you! I just love comic book t-shirts (one of which I was wearing, with my sleeveless brown leather jacket, yellow shorts, flip-flops, my “ruby” pendant my dad helped me make, and my brown straw fedora – ironically enough, when I’d got dressed, I loved my outfit, but didn’t think it would make waves. It was before, and now will definitely stay, one of my favorite outfits!) and she said, “It’s real sharp, I love it.” And all I can do is say thank you about a dozen times time and walk over to my dad, smiling wide. He asked me why I was so red; apparently, I was blushing as dark as my backpack.
I don’t want to say that was the best part, because it meant so much to me, but it did become even more meaningful when, when we finished, and as I was pushing the buggy away, I told her to have a good night, and she said, “You too, baby. You’re one of the nicest, most polite young ladies I’ve ever met.” And even after I walked away, (after thanking her again), I could still hear her and her friend talking to my Dad about how wonderful I am, and how they could tell, even though they didn’t speak to them, how wonderful my siblings are, how different we are from others, and how they’ve raised us right.
You guys, I’m still smiling!
These moments in life make me want to do better; they make me want to not lose my temper so often (which, honestly, already isn’t very often), to not be so sarcastic and cynical, to be even kinder. This moment made me want to be the person that that woman complimented all the time.
People don’t realize how much a moment like this can mean to someone. And I understood exactly what she meant; this is what the world used to be like. People used to compliment others, and strike up conversations, and be friendly and polite and kind. The moments were as special then as they are now, but they were special because they meant something, not because they were rare. And being rare makes them mean all the more.
This woman didn’t just make my night, or my week, or even a highlight of my year. She gave me a memory for forever; one I will remember for the rest of my life.
I only wish I’d learned her name; I hope I see her again. But even if I never do, she is like the man who bought me and my siblings an ice cream for saying “Excuse me” and “Thank you”; like the woman in Kroger who gave me her cardinal pin for being nice and polite; she is a friend for life, and someone I will never forget.
This song is for her, and for anyone else who’s ever made someone feel good by just being nice!
Have a wonderful, fantastic, beautiful day, wherever you are!

 

Being Nice Isn’t a Dying Art – Yet

Story time with Miss Prism!
I want to tell you about something that happened to me a few months ago. First, let me tell you what I try to do whenever I go out; compliment people. That’s it. I average out about 10 compliments a day whenever I go out (sometimes 10 compliments per place I go.) I find something about a person I’m passing that I like (what a cute purse, you have a gorgeous haircut, I love your skirt, that is a wicked Wolverine shirt, stuff like that) and I tell them instead of just noticing it.
Alright, now, back to the story. A couple months ago I was in Kroger walking around with my sibling and I walked by this woman in a bright red coat – she was having a conversation with a man- and I caught sight of a pin on her jacket. I couldn’t really tell what it was, but it was redder than her coat and it was a sparkle pin (I am unashamed to admit I am a sucker for sparkles and they always catch my eye) and I just automatically fell in love with it. So I obviously say, “I love your pin!” and she looks up, startled, smiles a huge smile, and says “Oh thank you!”
Takes about 15 seconds, if that long. I don’t even stop walking.
Now flash forward about 5 minutes, me and my sibling are walking down a completely different aisle, joking around, and behind me someones yelling, “Wait! Wait, you!” and I turn around, very startled and the woman is running up to me, holding out… her pin!
She gave it to me, simply because I was kind to her and took a moment to say a nice word. My dad walked by her later and heard her telling a friend about the “nice young girl” she gave her cardinal pin to (yes, it’s a gorgeous, sparkly pin of a cardinal) because she was so polite.
It reminded of something that happened to me when I was little. Me and my family were at the mall, and it was literally jam packed, you had to shove your way through the crowd. Me and my sibling had been taught to be polite, so we said “excuse me” and “thank you” as often as we could.
A man caught up to us while we were walking around the mall (and we were freaked out by this breathless man at first, let me tell you) but he told us and our parents that we were the only kids in the entire mall to be polite to him, instead of shoving him out of our way. He bought us an ice cream.
My point with all this storytelling, folks, is that it’s never wasteful to be nice. It’s not always going to pay like it did to me – this is happened to me twice in my life, but when you think about it, that’s two more times than anyone else will experience such a wonderful moment. I have been polite to many people, and they have thrown it back in my face by being rude, or ignoring me, or simply grunting. But just when I’m starting to ask myself “Why on Earth am I even trying?” I compliment someone – might as well give it one more go – and their face lights up, and they say “Thank you!” so enthusiastically that I know I’ve made their day, I realize what I just told you.
Never give up on being kind to anyone. In the end, it will come back to you, and you, like me with the man from the mall and the woman from Kroger, could end up making a friend for life. (And all other cliches’ like that.)
~P.S.

For Shame, Smartphone, For Shame!

So yesterday I may have sent a poor girl into shock.
Picture this, kay, I’m walking down an aisle in Wal-Mart with my sibling, and we’re talking and joking around, and we pass this girl who’s talking to herself. I catch her saying something like “I can’t reach it.”
So I pause my conversation with my sibling and ask her kindly, “Do you need help reaching something?”
And she gives me the most weird-ed out look I’ve seen and says, “Uh yeah.”
So I prompt her and ask her what she needs help reaching, and when she tells me (I can’t remember exactly what it was, something about no-bake Oreo mix – yum!) I reach up and grab it for her. (I may not be tall, but I’m not a total midget. *Triumphant laugh* YOU SHALL NOT BEST ME SHELF.)
She tells me thanks, I smile and tell her “You’re welcome,” and I walk on with my sibling. This all takes me and her about 30 seconds.
Now take a moment here. She looked completely and utterly confused when I started speaking to her. (You may wonder if it’s because I heard her talking, but seriously, even though she wasn’t being loud, she was being loud enough to hear.)
This is what technology has done to human-to-human contact; eradicated it into a rare and inconceivable occurrence.
All I can say is for shame, Smartphone, for shame.

 

Hiareahaah

That moment when someone smiles at you while you’re shopping and you’re in the middle of a very unattractive yawn.
(And, in case you couldn’t tell, the title is the noise you’re making.)