You never really know what kind of day someone is having.

This customer stopped by a home improvement store to buy fencing materials and expected the checkout process to be completely routine. The cashier seemed quiet and distant, so he kept the conversation to a minimum while she rang up the purchase.

Then she asked to see his ID before accepting his store credit card.

Most customers probably wouldn’t think twice about that request. However, he dealt with identity theft in the past, and genuinely appreciated cashiers who took the extra step to verify who they were dealing with. So he thanked her.

Well, the cashier’s reaction caught him completely off guard.

Read on to see how it all played out.

I was a customer… and I made the cashier cry.

I was checking out of the local home supply warehouse, and used my store credit card for my purchase, which consisted of a couple of pallets of fencing materials.

The cashier didn’t look like she was new. This particular store has everyone wearing orange vests, and they are encouraged to decorate them. Hers was starting to look a little shabby, but had lots of colored drawings of flowers all over it. She’d been here for a while.

And she was wooden. She was doing her job quickly and efficiently, but I might as well had been invisible. No eye contact, no talk, no life. Taking my cue from her, after my initial, “Hello,” I stayed quiet.

He was happy when she asked.

When I pulled out my store credit card, she asked me if she could see my ID too.

I’ve been the victim of identity theft before. My credit cards have my signature, and a “see ID” on the back. Even now I have a fraud alert on my credit.

So I’m VERY happy when cashiers ask to see my ID, and I ALWAYS tell them, “Thank you,” in a cheerful manner.

When he thanked her, she started crying.

“Thank you so much for asking!” I said as I pulled out my ID, “I’m always so glad when a cashier asks! I know people give you crap for it, but it really does mean a lot to me. So thank you.”

And she started crying! It wasn’t like she was bawling, but her eyes teared up and her voice got that tremulous tone we have all experienced at some point in our lives.

There weren’t any other customers, so we talked for a few minutes about how terrible customers can be, and she regained her composure again. Apparently another customer had read her the riot act for something or another (I’m not sure what) and it had really hurt her.

Wow! What a wholesome interaction!

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a hardware store employee who lost his cool with customers wandering around after closing time.

Let’s check out how the readers over at Reddit feel about the whole thing.

Here’s an excellent question.

Many people may not know this.

According to this comment, they just love the story.

This person has dealt with similar.

It’s always nice to hear stories like this.

People spend a lot of time talking about rude customers, and for good reason. Retail workers deal with a lot of negativity and frustration throughout a typical shift.

That’s why a simple compliment or a few kind words can have such a big impact.

The customer probably thought he was just saying thank you. Meanwhile, the cashier clearly needed to hear it that day. Sometimes the smallest interactions end up meaning the most.