Reassured by an Angel

When a rude customer upsets a store clerk, an earth angel steps in.

By Jolene Twomey, Riverside, California

As appeared in

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Hey, you,” the ornery old man called out to me at the register. “I can’t find those die-cast planes on any aisle!”

I gave him my best patient smile. “We only carry them during the holidays,” I explained.

The man scowled. “You don’t know anything,” he snapped. “I know I’ve seen ’em here in the summertime.”

We sold all sorts of trinkets at the gas station convenience store where I worked, but the cashier didn’t stock the shelves. And I was taken aback. Our customers were generally pleasant. When one was rude like this it ruined my whole day.

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“I’ll go elsewhere!” the man yelled. He stormed out. I got teary.

I reached for a tissue and looked up to see a new customer standing before me at the checkout. I hadn’t seen him come in.

Why does he seem so familiar? I wondered. I didn’t know him.

“No one should treat you in such an ugly way,” the man said. “You’re beautiful, inside and out.”

Immediately I felt better. Why should I let one grouchy person get to me like that? “Where are your wings?” I asked the helpful customer.

“I don’t have them with me right now,” he said. I rang him up and he waved good-bye. I watched through the plate glass window as he walked out toward a midnight-blue pickup truck.

I greeted the next customer before taking a glance out the window again. The man and his truck were gone. But the happy feeling he gave me? It lasted all day.

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