‘Tis the season when we’re reminded that it is better to give than to receive, that good can come out of bad, and that a small, kind gesture can transform the moment for another human being. I proved all of that to myself last weekend.
It was almost 9 p.m. on the Friday before Christmas. In the Dollar Tree, bright fluorescent lights bleached the color out of the ravaged assortment of Christmas wrapping. I had stopped in for more red and green tissue paper. I would leave with something less tangible and far more precious.
Carol MegathlinAs I searched the aisles, the clerk at the cash register kept up a cheerful chatter with her customers. She was a young woman, pale, sandy-haired. I am ashamed to admit that I shuddered to think of working late hours at Dollar Tree just days before Christmas.
Let me stop here and tell you that about 25 years ago, I stopped by the ATM at my bank on a Saturday. I punched in a request for a certain amount of cash, which I keep stashed in my wallet for emergencies. When I counted the bills there was a discrepancy – in the bank’s favor – between the amount I had asked for and the total I was given. But the bank was closed and I was in a hurry. In the ensuing days, I forgot about the error.
Back at the Dollar Tree, I got in line with my tissue paper. As the lady ahead of me was completing her purchase, the cashier handed her some bills and a few coins.