Mickey D & Libraries (Or, A Little Niceness Goes a Long Way)

Eh. The adding a title to the posts is a relatively new thing for me. I like the idea, but... I guess I feel like I should do it first since it's the first thing that comes up when I do a new post, but at that point -- the beginning -- do I really know well enough what I'm going to write about to give it a title? So you get whatever pops into my mind. I just left Mickey D's and I'm in a library. So... this title is not terribly creative of me.

It makes me happy that the central library allows you to have beverages as long as they're in closed container. So... knowing that I was going to do some posting, and wanting some ice to munch on, and knowing that I could get a large sweet tea at McDonald's for just over a buck, and since McDonald's is a stone's throw from the library, I went there to get a beverage and some ice.

I was getting increasingly uncomfortable that I hadn't blogged for two days. It's just out of line with what I wanted to be doing for the month. So... instead of going home between appointments and such, I decided I'd grab a computer at the library and do some blogging.

At McDonald's, I went inside so I could get as much ice in my drink as I wanted. There was a bit of a mess around the drink area, just because an employee was working there to refill straws and lids and such. I gave her a little space then grabbed my drink. While I was adding the sweet tea, she came over and apologized for the mess and for being in my way. I'm not actually terribly fond of... eh... pseudo-sarcastic responses, but I said something along the lines of, "Oh, no -- you're in my way because you're doing your job."

OK. Maybe that's not remotely what I said, but you get the gist -- I was joking about how dare she do her job. She immediately said, "Thank you," seemingly with some relief. After a moment, she added that some people don't understand, that they want her to just get out of their way. How dare she be in the way. (She didn't say any of this. I probed a bit to get that this was what she was feeling -- or how she had been treated one too many times.) She didn't say anything at all inappropriate. She just expressed relief, then explained herself enough that... I felt kind of bad for her. Well. More than it being a feeling specifically toward her, it was that I thought what a shame it is that people get in such a hurry that their own time seems so much more important than how they treat another person. This woman thanked me 3 times. She was completely prepared for me to be a jerk. When she didn't get crappy treatment from me, it was a relief and she was grateful.