How do you act when you think no one is looking?

This blog post is more along the lines of "Think on these things" than my usual posts.  Something hit me last night and I just had to share it.
(NOTE2011.08.02 - I realized I had not posted this yet so here it is.  "Last night" was about a month ago)

I'll start with a story.  My family and I frequent a major retail giant, they offer groceries, general household items and have a Lawn & Garden center.

 This story is not about the major retail giant, but we will call them "StoreMart" for reference.


One day while my wife & girls were at StoreMart, she needed to pick a child to do something.  (Not my wife in the pic, BTW)  She was headed either outside or into the store so she stopped and asked the greeter to 'pick a number between 1 & 9'.  The greeters name was John (name changed to respect "John's" privacy).  He did, the girls guessed, and my wife thanked John then went on about her day.  The next time I went to the store with my family she pointed out John and we all told him Hello as we entered the store.  This became a habit, every time any of us would see John in the store we would say Hello.


Last night my wife went to StoreMart (for the second time that day) and entering, she saw John.  He exclaimed "you here again?" jokingly and they had a short conversation.
John is an older fellow, easily past retirement age.  Always friendly and smiles every time I see him.  As they were talking, he explained to my wife that he looks for us every time he works.  We brighten his day with our hellos.  John; a greeter at a major retail giant, gave my wife a hug during their conversation.  He passed her on his way out later (his shift was over) and hugged her a second time!
When she shared this with me; I started thinking.  Obviously; the 45 seconds it takes to recognize a person by name and tell them hello made a huge impact on this mans life.  He has lived a long and I'm sure eventful life.  He has loved, lost, accomplished and failed; just like all of us.  Why did an effort so small on our part make such a huge impact on this mans life?  I'm not a celebrity, not famous, not even close to rich.  We don't spend a noticeably large amount with this Retail Giant.  I'm currently working a contract position and somewhat nervous about when the contract will run out.  I consider myself on the edge of unemployed.  We don't drive fancy cars (NADA blue book says $22K would buy them both!).  Our kids; while exemplary in our own eyes, to be honest are your average cute girls.  How can an action from my insignificant life make an impact on this fellow who is my equal or perhaps even my better?  (In support of John, he has had a longer life and therefore presumably more time to 'accomplish great things'.)
Then, it hit me; like a ton of bricks.  We pay attention to John.
We treat John like a real person.  We interact with him and offer him the same time and respect we do everyone else.

But John is just a greeter at a Major Retail Giant you say?  That's the point.

So, with my story told.  How do you act when you think no one (important!) is looking?  How do you treat the cashier when you make a purchase?  Do you use their name?  I bet they have a name tag.  How did you treat your steward the last time you were on an airplane?  Or any employee of the Air Transportation Industry?  Flying isn't fun anymore; I have to take off my belt to get through security!  Is that the fault of anyone I'll meet while flying?  Most likely not.

My father taught me a few things.  "Respect EVERYONE."  "Don't judge a book by it's cover."  "EVERYONE is important simply because God chose to breath life into them."

You never know when some small act can make a memorable impact on another persons life.  You never know when that person will have a chance to return the favor.










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