Search for:

Aloha Lives

Yesterday I complained about the lack of Aloha I received in the line at the Manoa postal substation. Please note it was not the staff who were poorly behaved. Basically, it was only a few of the many folks in line. Instead of griping about them I should have been rejoicing in the one man who went out of his way to be kind.

This morning I was also gifted with many unexpected acts of kindness. I arrived at Lex Brodies’ and explained the nature of my car’s ailments to a mechanic. He explained to me that he was very sorry, but he expected my car would need an overnight stay. He further said that since it wasn’t unsafe or unfit to drive, would I like to reschedule my appointment so that I could have time to make alternate transportation arrangements? I asked if half the work could be done today and half done on Monday. He said of course it could, but doing the work all at once would make less of an impact on our savings accounts. I thought it worth mentioning that he wanted to save us money.

And then I went to Starbucks for a Mocha Latte. I have been wanting one all week. The store was packed but everybody was in a friendly, festive mood. The line there was much different from the line at the post office – -I suppose because we were all in Starbucks by choice. At any rate, the woman ahead of the woman in front of me ordered 6 specialty coffees. The woman in front of me ordered three specialty coffees. We all sat down together to wait and exchange small talk.

The first lady’s 6 coffees arrived in twos. Then the second lady’s first coffee arrived. The kid at the counter yelled, “Mocha Latte!” The woman I went to the counter and asked about her other two drinks. He told he he hadn’t made them yet. She returned to the table and gave me the beverage she had just picked up. She said, “Here, you can have this. I have to wait for the other drinks anyway.” I thanked the woman, wished her a Merry Christmas, took the coffee and escaped the throng.

I was a block away before I sipped my beverage — regular coffee, black. Definitely not what I was looking forward to, however it wasn’t the nice woman’s fault. We both heard the man call out, “Mocha Latte”. It may not have been the server’s fault, either. He’d also put up on the counter a, “Coffee. Black!” and I think the man in search of it received my Mocha Latte. I hope he enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the people I met this morning.

19 Comments

  1. THAT’s the attitude you little Christmas girl! I wonder if your attitude sounded like that when you took that first sip of BLACK COFFEE! ( ewwww YUCK! )

    1. Melli — in fact, my first thought upon realizing I had the wrong coffee was the hope that the poor harried kid trying to keep up with all those orders didn’t get chewed out.

  2. I hope the man ordered a Black Coffee to be ‘good’ while secretly wanting something more luxurious; what a happy surprise it would be then. I hope you enjoyed yours either way!

    What a difference the right crowd makes.

  3. this reminds me of my today’s visit to the malls – not my favourite place, i should add. the waitress at the coffee shop was the most unkind creature i have seen in a while, moving around slowly and taking orders grudgingly. still, people (customers) at the opposite table tried to entertain her but were served their stuff without as much as a smile. at least everybody got what we ordered

  5. You are encountering some festive, happy, merry souls this holiday season. Of course, there will be Grinches out there too, and a few Scrooges may come across your path also, as well. You seem to be more of a merry soul, and if I crossed your path, it would be a good day.
    🙂
    Merry Christmas to you and all those you love!!!
    Happy and Healthy 2010.
    Sprinkle, sprinkle… that’s magic fairy dust.

  6. Good for you, looking for those hidden (and not so hidden) blessings!

    We are expecting a big snowstorm and the grocery store was horribly crowded this afternoon. Even so, people were being so very thoughtful and kind to one another.

    PS: I think your Friday Harbor girl over on the left might be a little chilly without a jacket! 😉

  8. Thank goodness you found some nice people walking, standing, waiting around. I’m feeling so tired and …. OK…. maybe a teeny weeny bit grouchy from this lousy holiday cold that meeting people like those at the post office would have sent me straight back to bed. Oh what the heck, I think I’ll go back to bed anyway.

  9. It’s good to meet good and friendly people along the way.
    And in posting it here, you gives us all a nice fuzzy warm feeling and also can come back next year and remember it 🙂

  11. My friend and I went shopping a few days ago and stopped to get coffee-he was a few cents short so I gave him a dollar to cover and the woman behind us was absolutely floored. Of course she didn’t realize that we were friends, so when she found out it kind of lost it’s impact…but even if he wasn’t my friend, I’d have done that.

Comments are closed.