Sometimes all it takes is a little effort to make someone’s day.

In the following story, a cashier was working a normal closing shift when an older, deaf woman tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she knew ASL.

The employee barely knew more than a few letters and numbers, but instead of panicking, the two patiently worked through it together, one sign at a time.

By the end of the interaction, they both walked away smiling.

Read on to see how it all played out.

A deaf customer and a cashier who barely knows sign language

I’m working my usual closing shift at the store, and it’s getting a little late, around 6:00 PM.

I’m going through my section when I feel a tap on my shoulder.

I’m greeted by a short, older woman who I would say is about 5′ tall and 70 years old.

The conversation started off a little slow.

She smiles and starts signing to me (From here on, normal speech will be in “quotes,” and ASL will be in #hashes#. I am ME, and she is DL for Deaf Lady):

DL:#Do you speak Sign Language?#

ME (smiles shyly): “Um…”#L-I-T-L-E. A-B-C-1-2-3#.

DL (wide grin): #Okay. Slow. C-H-A-I-R.#

ME (nods): “Okay, take me there.” #T-A-K-E-M-E#.

When they got to the furniture section, she realized what the lady wanted.

We head to the furniture section, where DL points me to a specific chair. Through some handwaving and LOTS of repeating, I get that she needs two chairs. Five minutes and some hauling later, I’ve got the two chairs up front and am checking out DL.

DL: #Thank you for your help.#

ME: #H-A-P-Y-T-O-H-E-L-P. Have a good morning.#

DL (Smiles): #Have a good night.#

ME: “Oops.” #Have a good night.#

She felt so good about this whole interaction.

DL: #Good job. Bye!#

ME: #Bye!#

She left and I felt really good for having helped out someone who normally would have a hard time even saying hello.

Even though I couldn’t understand every word she said, I knew that I was going to help her, come ****, high water, or hand cramps. Maybe next time I’ll have broadened my vocabulary and learned how to sign double letters.

Wow! The lady probably really appreciated her assistance.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who gave her phone number to be friendly to a guest, but immediately wished she could take it back.

Let’s check out if the fine folks over at Reddit have ever done anything like this.

This person suggests she learn the sign for a specific phrase.

Here’s someone who wants to learn ASL.

For this person, it was the writing method that helped.

According to this reader, the best part was that she didn’t complain or get upset.

A lot of people would have panicked or avoided the interaction completely after realizing they barely knew any sign language.

Yet, this cashier tried anyway. And sometimes it’s that willingness to put in effort that matters far more than getting everything perfect.

As for the customer, she clearly understood that, too, and did her part to help the situation along.

There’s no doubt this interaction will stay with them for a while.