Act of Kindness - Week #1!!

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.” –Mother Teresa

*The act of kindness this week…the next time you go grocery shopping, show kindness by starting and encouraging a meaningful conversation with the cashier the whole time you are there!!

How many times have we been in the checkout line at a store and had quite a few items and all we say to the cashier is basically “hi” and “thank you”? I know that has been me countless times and there is nothing wrong with that since we are being polite and saying “thank you”. On the other hand though, what if we intentionally decide to show God’s love through us to a stranger instead of staying silent?! What if we started a conversation with the cashier instead of passing up an opportunity to show kindness?!

*My experience with the act of kindness…I normally do our weekly grocery shopping on Saturday mornings/afternoons at Shop n Save! This particular Saturday though, I already had plans earlier in the day with my parents so I grocery shopped in the evening instead. It was a cloudly day and it looked like it was going to pour down rain so I told myself I needed to be quick. However, I ended up buying quite a few groceries because I like to plan out meals for dinner for at least the coming week. The other main reason I had a lot of food in my grocery cart was because it was already past dinner time and there are a lot more food items that look very appetizing when you shop hungry! 

When I finally finished my grocery shopping, I picked a checkout line and started unloading my cart and then walked up to the front of the checkout line where the cashier said “hi”. I replied back with a “hi” and a smile. Now let’s stop with my story for a minute because at this point I had to make a choice on if I was going to leave the conversation there or encourage us to talk more. At once, the excuses started pouring into my head…I needed to hurry. It was about to rain. I was hungry. My husband was hungry at home. My puppy dog was probably hungry at home too, and I was tired from my day so putting forth effort right after getting several groceries seemed exhausting. I chose then and there to not continue dwelling on my excuses to stay silent while the cashier rang up my groceries and to take this opportunity to show kindness instead of letting it slip by!  

I started our conversation out by making a statement about the weather and it just continued to lead into a more meaningful conversation! The cashier, Stephanie, eventually shared with me that the first hour of her shift that evening had been very difficult because of her computer not working right and resulting in mean and impatient customers. We continued our conversation the whole time I was standing there and when she finished her job and handed me my receipt, she had a big smile on her face and said “have a great night”. Now I might be thinking too much into this but…maybe our conversation made her realize that not all customers are unkind. Maybe our conversation made her feel better by talking some things out. Maybe our conversation made her have a better outlook on her job. Maybe our conversation showed her people do care. Maybe, just maybe…the “maybe” list is endless! Even though I will never know, I pray that my kindness helped Stephanie in some way!  

            So again, I encourage you to not just be another person in the cashier’s check out line! Be intentional! Be kind! Be friendly! Share appreciation! Show you care! Show love! 

p.s. A great fact about this act of kindness is that you can continue doing it each week and make it a habit instead of a one week act of kindness! Please comment below with your own experience with this act of kindness! I would really enjoy hearing about it!!