Usually, stories about working in customer service tend to end badly.

Angry patrons, demanding customers, and unreasonable management– there’s always something that causes drama.

While all of this may be true sometimes, there are moments that make working with the public worth it all.

Let’s hear a story that will make your heart warm and make you smile…

Thank you, customers. Thank you.

My company is part of a duopoly that holds over 75% of the total national supermarkets. Hundreds of individual stores, hundreds of thousands of employees.

You can guess the turnover rate and how insignificant each employee is.

We’re told to be available 24/7, to just accept that you will be called at 6am and asked to come in. If you don’t, you’ll find your roster hours have mysteriously decreased.

We’re told that no family plans can ever be made for Easter and Christmas.

Doesn’t sound like a great deal…

March/April, and December/January – nobody can take any leave that isn’t for something extremely serious like a death or major illness/injury.

Even if your mother dies, you only get three days off for bereavement. Most funerals take more than 3 days to plan for a sudden death.

If you have planned a vacation months ahead in time, and it is in December or March/April, you will be forced to cancel it, or face being forced to resign.

I cancelled my trip to USA, another employee resigned.

I was told to pull myself together when I broke down in tears after being told a day before buying tickets, that it was USA or my job.

If you mention you can do 30 hours, even if you have done for over a year, you’ll only get 10.

If you ask for more hours, nothing will change. If you beg for more hours, nothing will change. That trip you planned for Christmas? You cancelled it, just to work 15 hours a week.

You get hit by a mystery illness that causes high thirst/urination, they immediately get angry and demand a medical explanation.

Now, two months after you started seeing doctors, you’re still getting tests to try and figure out what’s wrong – you won’t find out what’s wrong for another month.

Work is still mad that you need the bathroom twice in a shift.

You’re on your feet for 8 hours a day, hearing the same music, the self-checkout machines demanding the loyalty card, the beeping of the scanners, the PA calls across the store.

It’s monotonous, brutal, unfair, and dehumanizing work at best.

If any employee makes it past 3 months, they develop a thousand yard stare.

But wait…

But then a customer comes up to you, smiles at you, asks how you are. You say your most repeated and least truthful line, “Not too bad, thank you.” and go back to staring at the far wall.

Then they say, “Hey. I understand. You’re doing a good job.”

Or they ask, “Hey, how did your doctor appointment go?” because they remember you mentioning you’re sick.

Or their child comes around, squeezes between you and the scanner, asking to scan an item.

A little girl looking at you and their candy on the conveyor, you sense what they want. You grab the candy, scan it, and give it to them.

They light up with joy and thank you. The mother smiles at the fact that you understood what she wanted.

A customer bumps into an old friend, and they excitedly talk about their lives, how old their child is now, the new job your customer has taken up, or the new home the other has just moved into.

An elderly lady that breaks the monotony by asking you to not make the bags too heavy for her. She asks if you can help her to the car, you oblige, and she gives you a candy and says thank you.

A disabled lady with severe back pain also needs help to the car. Anything to get away from the scanner, you help her out, load her car, and safely see her off. She now recognizes you and says hi each time.

The customer who hugs you in thanks when you call a code blue after she faints to the floor. The golden retriever/labrador you kept company and gave water to after work.

This took a positive turn!

All of you have helped more than I can ever tell you.

You’re all the little rays of sunshine in an otherwise ceaseless thunderstorm. I seriously can’t thank you enough for the tiny amount of love you’ve given to me.

A stranger’s love, even as fleeting as a brief smile, is one of the most powerful things I’ve encountered.

It has the power to turn a bad week of dumb company policies into a good one. You’re the reason why I hang on in this job.

Let’s see how Reddit users reacted.

Many people felt warmed by the sweet story.

Others could relate to their experience.

This user is worried about the working conditions at the store.

Overall, there were plenty of people who were thankful right back!

It’s stories like these that restore my faith in humanity.

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