How much is a kind word worth?

Something really touching happened to me a fortnight ago. A supermarket was due to open on the 22nd of December, at 5 p.m. just a few blocks from my house. The frenzy of activity there increased as the 22nd approached and my husband and I saw people working there round the clock. A day after the launch I went there to see what the place was like and was impressed with some of the offers they had.

After my shopping I thought of stopping by the manager’s desk to congratulate him on the launch. I saw him watch me approach with a very worried and pensive expression on his face. As soon as I reached him he asked if anything was wrong. I told him that I wanted to congratulate him, especially because I had seen how hard his team had worked to ensure that all went well. It was nice to see relief all over his face. He promptly gifted me with a bag of five kilos of Basmati rice!

I was touched by his gesture and realized that it took so little to bring a smile to his face. I couldn’t remember the last time I had not gone out of my way to say a kind word to anyone. It took just thirty seconds of my time to make someone feel better and make me feel good about myself.