Going home nearly 10pm from doing an early evening massage, I had to change buses at the broadway three bus stops from my house, so decided to drop in at the supermarket there. This is the way I tend to shop, to save time: en route home, go in, grab what I want, and leave (after paying, of course).
Didn’t find what I wanted, but saw some Brussels sprouts reduced in price, to 24p for 500g — because it was closing time, which is when they’d reduce the price for some items which had not sold like hot cakes. This is another way I tend to shop: buy whatever’s going cheaper that day (and share them with friends who need to watch their purse strings).
Went to the cigarette and lottery ticket counter at the far end on one side of the supermarket, because that’s usually the quiet corner. The young man there, early 20s(??) and from North Africa (I think), was very welcoming, giving me a big smile (compared to the dour, inept and rude service I got from the Chinese young woman at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown a week earlier, which had left me angry for a long time and swearing never to go back there).
When I put down the three bags of Brussels sprouts on the counter, the young man said, “24p x 3. Now how much would that be?”
It looked like it was not easy for him to work out 24 x 3 in a jiffy. He could’ve used the till to do it for him, but he could’ve been just engaging an old lady in a social conversation at closing time, which is a quiet time, not necessarily because he was no good at maths.
Without thinking, I went straight into teaching gear, to show him a quick method: “25 x 3 = 75; take away 3 = 72.”
His face was a right picture: his eyebrows shot up, and there was a look of enlightenment in his eyes. It was obvious no one had shown him this quick shortcut at mental arithmetic before. I was so happy that I was able to show him another way of doing what might’ve taken a longer time to arrive at the sum total.
After I’d paid, I said to him, “It’s very cold outside tonight, but your smile and your cheerful service have made it warmer for me!” Another look of surprise, and another happy beam on his face. I was doubly happy that I was able to end his working day with a beam of sunshine for him.
What a difference a bit of friendliness makes (unlike what happened with that horrible woman at the Chinese supermarket).
(London, 2024)
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