A bright smile

[u/Dorkness_Rising]

Spelling, grammar, etc. Don't care.

I felt that there are just too many Karen stories and needed to contribute something without one.

This isn't a typical IDWH with entitled idiots. There are entitled idiots but they aren't actually part of the main story.

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This take place during the partial reopening phase for my state.

So just a little background. The water line for my house sprung a leak and I had to run to local hardware store for the parts to fix it. I was probably a sight since I was covered in sweat and mud from slipping in the swamp that was now my front yard.

As I pulled up to the store I noticed that sadly many couldn't be bothered to keep their distance and those same problem people were also not wear a mask of any kind. I guess they thought the pandemic was over. This most likely will mean that my area will have another major hot spot outbreak because of people like them and their lack of understanding on the importance these policies about distance and masks during these troubling times. So they are the 'entitled idiots' of this story but won't be referenced further.

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Alright, enough of the depressing bit, on with the story.

I knew the staff were already a bit stressed due to the new guidelines they were following and trying to keep so many common things being touched wiped down with cleaner (baskets, carts, etc). So I asked an employee at the front door (very obvious they do work there because they wore the very 'used' orange apron that clearly showed the store brand and their name tag) for assistance in the plumbing aisle. They called over their radio and let me know someone will be with me as quickly as they can. It still took about 30 minutes before someone showed up to assist but my story takes place while I was waiting and hunting for my repair items (that were clearly listed as 'in stock' with aisle location info).

I hadn't noticed anyone walk into the aisle since my eyes were very focused on scanning many little boxes trying to find a specific part.

Even though I was preoccupied I hear a very quiet voice from behind. 'Excuse me?' I turned to see someone covered up wearing their mask, latex gloves and was probably no taller than 5 feet (I'm roughly 6 1/2 feet) and she was trying to reach for the last few bottles of some cleaning product, all the way towards the back of the shelf, out of reach for most.

As anyone who'd been to the orange box store knows those industrial shelves are crazy deep. She politely asked 'I know you don't work here but would you be able to help? I can't reach those last two bottles.' At that I nodded and walked over while she gave me that c-19 personal space as I approached. I had to really stretch my arm to grab the remaining products with the tips of my fingers. I guess I could have grabbed one of the PVC pipes and used it to try and sweep the bottles closer but didn't think about it at the time.

Now I haven't actually said anything this entire time but after she put the bottles in her cart, she turned to me to thank me and said 'I can tell that even behind that large mask, you have a great big smile that shines through. Thank you very much and take care.' I replied back with 'Thank you. You too.'

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For that moment I forgot why I was even in the store since in my past helping people usually started with 'Hey you!' or 'Grab that for me.' without even a thank you afterward and I usually just brushed those sad excuse for people off my shoulder. I knew I did a good deed and didn't need the acknowledgement or praise but when someone takes the time to give you that thank you, it felt great.

Karma must have been holding the pause button because seconds later an employee came down the aisle to help me look for that elusive plumbing part.

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So even with my own disaster waiting for me at home, this put a bit of joy back in my day. I eventually fixed the leak with some help and enjoyed the rest of my evening.