Recently I had a terrible experience at a Trader Joe’s grocery store.

The cashier was remarkably rude to me.. in a place that is typically known for having great customer service. I came away from the experience first thinking “what did I do to deserve this treatment “… then after some thought I came to the realization that this person was more than likely having a bad day and I just happen to be the one they let it out on.

I decided to give the grocery chain another chance so I visited a different location on the other side of town. I was not familiar with the layout and asked an employee for help.

They were so kind, I opened up about my past experience at the other location. She reassured me this was my new store and showed my where they kept there coffee . When I got to the register the folks helping me out were so kind, I mentioned the bad experience and how I’ve decided this was my new store. The gentlemen helping me stepped away for a second and came back with a small bouquet of flowers and said “I know this isn’t much, but I wanted to give this to you”.. it meant more than that man could ever know.

I am a special needs mom and take my son with autism with me everywhere I go, I also haul around my toddler and with the duo sometimes we can be really loud. I get lots of looks, questioning my chaos. This gentlemen set all those insecurities aside and showed me in a simple way he cared and I was valued. It made my day.

I was able to pass the flowers off to my 4 year old and she fell asleep holding them on our way home. She was so happy about the flowers!

Whenever I see something unkind happen I am reminded that I can always turn the tables and bring kindness to someone in need.. no matter how small the gesture it can have a profound ripple effect.