An Open Letter to a Christmas Angel

Dear Marcia,

You didn’t even notice me today. I’m sure of it. Because if you had, I know you would have sent a smile my way. You’ve done it many times before when I have been in your store.

Standing nearby, you probably thought I was simply printing off pictures at the nifty little Kodak kiosk in front of your register. I was, but that wasn’t all I was doing. I was also watching you.

I watched you smile at every customer you serviced. Some of them, I’m sure, were strangers to you. Others, I could tell, were acquaintances; many of whom had undoubtedly become your friends through frequent stop-ins for a few forgotten necessities. Regardless, you treated them all the same. Warm. Friendly. Accommodating. Important.

I watched as you helped a woman use her debit card in the machine, turning it the right way to make it go in, quickly and quietly, so as not to embarrass her. I watched as you threw your head back and laughed when your co-worker whispered something in your ear that probably wasn’t even all that funny. I watched as you limped over in your signature fashion to Aisle One to retrieve an item for a customer in a hurry, too busy to be bothered with finding something themselves.

Just when I was about to stop watching, she came up to your counter. Frail and elderly, she reeked of smoke…so much so that I at first turned my head to catch a clean breath. The chair that housed her doubled as her shopping cart, with her purchases resting safely between her feet. Her face held more lines than I had seen on anyone, ever before.

Ironically, she came to you, asking for a moisturizer of a specific kind. She wanted to buy it, she said, for comfort, not for vanity, because at her age, who would notice? You smiled and then looked, but didn’t find it. Then you did something you didn’t have to do.

You picked up the phone and dialed a number. It was the Rite Aid across the street, a competitor of your employer. You asked the person on the other end if they had the product, and then you hung up the phone with a satisfied smile.

Yes, they had what she was looking for, you told your customer. Clearly sensing her hesitation, you asked her if she was ok…how she would get there…and if she had a car. But you didn’t stop there.

When she replied that her car was nearly out of gas, you made a suggestion that I was not prepared to hear. You gently, but firmly told her that you were going across the street to get it for her. When she said she was planning to use her debit card for the purchase, you told her that you would pay for the item and she could simply pay you back. Listening to you talk, I almost could not believe my ears. I waited to see if you would really go through with it. As I believed you would, you did. Even though the store was busy and people were waiting. Even though you hadn't yet asked your boss if you could. You didn’t even hesitate.

I have seen and heard a lot of things this holiday season. A busy shopper accidentally bumping into a woman standing too close. A baby crying, tired and anxious from all the over stimulation of seasonal hustle and bustle. The familiar sounds of Christmas carols and bell ringers from the Salvation Army. The excited child giggling with her friend, waiting in line to sit on Santa’s lap and make her requests.

But what I saw and heard today was among the sweetest of all Christmas sounds. It was the sight of a woman who cared. It was the sound of a woman who served. It was the picture of what “loving your neighbor” looks like. It was a reminder to me that not everyone in the world is a taker…there is such thing as customer service…and not everyone just looks out for #1.

I came to your store to finish up my Christmas shopping. But what I got when I came was much more meaningful than any gift I could buy, wrap and place under my tree.

I got to see love, in action. Care, in motion. Concern, in full bloom.

You could have stopped being accommodating at any point. And even then, you would have still been a nice person who did her job well. But instead, you chose to love, care and concern yourself with a person who was in need. You saw that need and responded. You went above and beyond what was written in your employee handbook.

And all the while, a girl who was printing off pictures at the nifty little kiosk in front of your register was watching. You weren’t trying to impress me. And really, you didn’t. Instead, you did something much more significant.

Marcia, you blessed me.

And so, today, I say thank you. Thank you for getting involved in a life. Caring for a stranger. And reminding me that love is much more sweet when you give it away.

Now may God bless you, Christmas angel. He was watching, too.