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Imagine working in a retail job. You might imagine that it would get a little monotonous after awhile. You’d ask the same questions. The customers would give the same answers. It would be pretty boring after awhile.

What if you asked the same simple question you ask every customer, but one customer answered in a way you weren’t expecting? How would you respond?

In this story, one gas station employee was in that situation, and he was caught off guard for a minute. When he finally decided how to respond, he responded with compassion instead of like the retail robot many people become.

Keep reading for the whole story.

“My dad died today.”

I work at a smaller gas station. We do all of the normal gas station things. Beer is of course one of those things.

Around seven tonight, a woman comes in while the store is empty and walks directly back to the beer cooler, not responding to my greeting.

I pay this no mind, as this happens often.

A few moments later she walks up to the counter with a six-pack. Reflexively, I ask her how her day is.

She definitely had a rough day.

She looks at me with tears in her eyes and responds, “My dad died today.”

“Oh,” I respond, caught off-guard. The only thing that I can say is, “I’m sorry,” hollow though it sounds. As I look at her, she seems numb, so I ask her if she is okay.

“I don’t know.”

“It gets … easier,” I reply, hesitantly. “I’ve lost both of my fathers.”

This is sweet.

As I finish cashing her out and hand her the change, she thanks me, before before pocketing the change turning to leave with her six-pack.

I tell her to stay safe, and she reaches back and holds out her hand.

I take her hand and hold it for a moment before she turns and leaves.

It would be hard not to get emotional.

After she disappears down the street, I head into the backroom to compose myself before another customer sees me cry.

This was easily the most humanizing moment I’ve had in what can easily turn into the most monotonous and robotic of day jobs.

She really needed that beer. I can only imagine what a sad day she’s having. It was nice of OP to offer a little compassion and understanding.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person shares how helpful a kind word can be.

Another person shared a completely different experience in a similar situation.

This sounds sad.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a contractor who flew along way and spent 3 days on a fix only to find a breaker that needed to be flipped.

Another person didn’t know what to say.

When he asked her how her day was, he probably expected her to say something like “fine.” When she told him the truth, she probably didn’t expect him to respond in such an understanding way. She probably desperately needed that moment of compassion.

While the loss of a parent can get easier over time, the sadness never completely goes away.