One more:

There's a woman who is a check out clerk at the Walmart down at the bottom of the hil where we live. I really enjoy watching her. As each person comes up to the counter, she greats them with a warm smile, and engages them in conversation. For some, it's not much more than a comment or two about the weather, but because she is so friendly, she has gotten to know many of the regular customers. They linger at the counter, talking about health problems, deaths in the family and whatever other burdens they are bearing, and always listens attentively and offers positive encouragement. She is a story listener, and she's in another chapter in my book titled The Cosmos and the Check Out Clerk. She's been widowed for ten years and while standing on your feet for 8 hours is an exhausting job, she's thankful for it. Her husband wouldn't let her work so when he died, she had no experience. I've gotten to know her on a three minute per conversation at the check out counter basis, and she was very excited when I shared the chapter where I'd talked about her.

Three weeks ago, she suddenly dissappeared. After a couple of weeks of never seeing her, I was concerned, as she lives alone. Finally, I asked the mananager if she was alright, as I hadn't seen her in two weeks. He told me that she'd asked to change her hours from mid-afternoon to closing time, and I was relieved. I don't stop in often in the evening, but the first two times I had to go to Walmart later in the day, she wasn't there.

Late yesterday I had to stop by Walmart and the first thing I did was see if she was at her normal check out counter, and she was. I stopped by for a moment and said, "Hello, stranger!" and she lit up.
After I'd shopped, I got in her line and talked with her while she was checking me out. She said a couple of times. "Everyone told me that you were concerned about me." The news had spread throughout the store. There is no romantic undercurrent. My wife thinks she is the sweetest woman in the store and I often stop by with Ruth. I guess it's unusual enough for a customer to express concern for someone who just works there that it was big news.

After I checked out and paid for my purchases, she handed me my receipt and said, "It's nice to know that someone is concerned for me," and smiled broadly.

As the old song says, "little things mean a lot."

Jerry