The thread about how people can be cruel got me to thinking about my time working retail. There sure are some crazies out there... but then I started to think, I have met nice people, too. I thought maybe we could share the nice things that have been said to us, either by strangers or by loved ones.

I spent a semester working at a Hallmark. A woman came into the store one day and she was distressed b/c she had just lost her father. We got to talking and she told me about her father and talked about how he had found Jesus before he died and how that made her feel better. As she paid for her purchases and was about to leave, she told me how compasionate she thought I was. I will never forget her.

I worked in retail and customer service for a LOT of years. Seeing the good the bad and the ugly made me more determined that *I* was going to be different.

When I go into a gas station, grocery store, etc. I always smile at the cashier and say "Hi, how are you?" Just this one tiny thing gets more reactions! In Walmart for back-to-school I shocked the cashier so much, he actually told me it was refreshing to have a customer be friendly and "do my job the same way I do it" and told me it was a pleasure to be my cashier.

It's the southern girl in me, I suspect, to catch more flies with honey. . .but if you are nice first, it's very hard for them to be rude back. Just my 2 cents.