You never really know who’s paying attention until someone surprises you.

What would you do if a customer you barely remembered walked up to your table on your break, thanked you for being kind, and handed you a gift, completely out of the blue?

Would you be suspicious and leery of taking it?

Or would you accept without a second thought?

In today’s story, one bakery employee finds herself in this exact situation.

Here’s what happened.

Customer recognizes me outside of work

I work in a relatively well-known neighborhood bakery.

It often gets pretty busy, and while I try my best with customers, sometimes it gets busy enough that interactions are pretty limited and curt.

I’ve been working there a while now, and while I still enjoy it, the combination of college and work can leave me pretty drained behind the counter.

So today, before I head in for my closing shift, I’m sitting in a nearby cafe finishing up an essay that I probably should have started a few days earlier, stressed and under-caffeinated.

The door opens, and an older woman who looks vaguely familiar walks in.

She noticed the woman, but tried to keep working.

We make eye contact and continue with our tasks. I keep working and she orders.

Next thing I know, she’s leaning over my table.

I take out my earbuds, more than a little confused, and she says, “You work at *name of bakery, right?”

Me (still wary of how this interaction is going to play out): “Yes, I’m on my way over in just a minute, actually.”

Her: “You’re always so nice to me and my family when we come in there, that I just wanted to do something nice for you in return.”

The interaction left her looking at her job in a different light.

With that, she slides me a gift card for the cafe I’m sitting in!

I was completely taken aback.

It was so nice, and out of the blue, I had no idea what to say.

I just thanked her profusely, and she left.

Retail can feel like very robotic and soulless work, but an interaction like this is going to keep me feeling good about it for a while longer.

Thanks, random customer, expect a bonus of your choosing the next time you come in. 🙂

Wow! What a heartwarming story!

Let’s see how the readers over at Reddit relate to it.

This person was genuinely confused when people recognized him.

For this reader, a customer gifted them expensive coffee filters.

What a long conversation!

Here’s another retail worker who was given a gift card.

What a kind lady!

Too bad all retail customers can’t be like her!

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.