The Lady With the Cookie

Yesterday was hectic. It was Halloween and it was busy. On top of all the fun things I already needed to do I periodically ended up in a check stand [I work at a grocery store]. At one point a woman in one of those electric wheelchairs came through my line. She bought only one item; a shortbread cookie that was shaped like a pumpkin and had the words "Happy Birthday" scrawled across them in neon green frosting. I thought it was cute but I refrained from commenting on it as I helped her count out the exact change for her purchase.

Some time later I was off on the floor doing my own thing when the woman wheeled up to me and asked to use the phone to make a call and find out when the city bus would be stopping. So I walked her to our office and helped her make the call. Afterward she told me that when she first arrived at our bus stop today her wheels got stuck and a deaf man helped her get unstuck and off the bus. They got to talking and he told her that he was having an awful day. It was his birthday and he felt like no one cared. So she came inside and went to our bakery to pick out a cookie and asked one of the girls behind the counter to write "Happy Birthday" on the cookie. She then came through my line, bought said cookie, and tracked the guy down to give him his birthday cookie. She told me he cried and I could sympathize. That cookie had probably made his day; it made mine.

It's nice to know that there are people in the world that care, even if you're a complete stranger.

Happy Birthday, Man From the Bus.