I was talking with KT in Mudchat, and she asked me to start a thread on gratitude. I'll let her share her thoughts, as this was her idea. And a good one.
Let me offer my gratitude for getting stuck in the slow line at the check out counter.
A few months ago, I was in a line at a supermarket that seemed to be freeze-framed in time. When I looked ahead to see what the problem was, there was a new girl on the register and she was getting increasingly flustered. People were giving her expired coupons, or coupons for the wrong size package, and she was messing everything up. Someone had to come over to bail her out when she got completely confused. The guy in front of me was complaining very loudly, and getting increasingly obnoxious, and the girl looked like she was about to cry. I finally said to the man, "My wife and I just came back from visiting someone in a nursing home who has cancer and will never walk again. She would give anything to take your place waiting in line, if you'd take hers."
After that, he didn't say another word, but after the girl had checked him out and he was walking away, he turned around and called back, "Have a nice day!" The girl broke into the warmest smile and looked at me in gratitude. And I was thankful that I had been there.