(no subject)
Driving back to school today, I get off Rt 2 and onto 202 and realize that I'm seriously thirsty, so I pull up to the Dunkin Donuts that's right off the exit. Having discovered that coffee in large quantities does a bunch of undesirable things to me I decide I need something chai related and order a vanilla chai latte, medium, iced. The guy on the other end proceeds to tell me, We don't have iced chai here, we only make them hot, and I'm like, No problem, I'll take a hot one.
So I drive up to the window and the guy holding my hot vanilla chai flashes me this grin and says, Have you ever ordered a cold chai at a Dunkin Donuts before? I confess that I haven't, and he says, Hey, know what, I'll toss it in a cup with some ice for you, it'll probably be great. He goes and gets a plastic cup with a bunch of ice, pours in the chai, shakes it up, grins again and hands it to me. It is the most excellent chai I've had in a while.
The story's not about the chai, it's about that guy working in Dunkin Donuts who went out of his way to do something nice for me. It wasn't even something important, it wasn't like I was bleeding in the street, it wasn't something he HAD to do. It was something he did for no reason other than to make me smile, to make my day a little bit better.
And he didn't even know me.
This is a tribute to Dunkin Donuts guy. And even as I write this I feel ashamed for not having asked his name, for not being able to do something so small but so significant in return. To everyone who goes out of their way to put a smile on the face of a stranger - please keep doing what you're doing. People can be cruel and insensitive and ungrateful, but they aren't always. Some people's lives are made better by your thoughtfulness. Some people know that they're not just getting an iced chai latte out of the deal - they're getting a moment of your time, and they know how much that's worth.
Keep doing what you're doing. You give me an essential kind of hope.
So I drive up to the window and the guy holding my hot vanilla chai flashes me this grin and says, Have you ever ordered a cold chai at a Dunkin Donuts before? I confess that I haven't, and he says, Hey, know what, I'll toss it in a cup with some ice for you, it'll probably be great. He goes and gets a plastic cup with a bunch of ice, pours in the chai, shakes it up, grins again and hands it to me. It is the most excellent chai I've had in a while.
The story's not about the chai, it's about that guy working in Dunkin Donuts who went out of his way to do something nice for me. It wasn't even something important, it wasn't like I was bleeding in the street, it wasn't something he HAD to do. It was something he did for no reason other than to make me smile, to make my day a little bit better.
And he didn't even know me.
This is a tribute to Dunkin Donuts guy. And even as I write this I feel ashamed for not having asked his name, for not being able to do something so small but so significant in return. To everyone who goes out of their way to put a smile on the face of a stranger - please keep doing what you're doing. People can be cruel and insensitive and ungrateful, but they aren't always. Some people's lives are made better by your thoughtfulness. Some people know that they're not just getting an iced chai latte out of the deal - they're getting a moment of your time, and they know how much that's worth.
Keep doing what you're doing. You give me an essential kind of hope.