Fran

I currently work at an attorney’s office where it is my job to retrieve the mail every afternoon. Usually there is a line of people waiting, and every once in awhile I see some familiar faces lining the hallway, waiting for their turn at the package handoff door. There’s I’m-not-sure-what-her-name-is-but-Ms. Yoon-sounds-good-to-me, the cute young Asian woman who I also usually run into on the way into the building every morning. There’s the always delightful blond woman who never fails to bring her little mail cart, just in case the mailman decides to make her carry everyone’s mail. Then there’s the crabby always-running-late-so-don’t-get-in-her-way lady (I never enjoy running into her).

Anyways, a few days ago I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely, older woman named Fran. I was behind Fran in line that day and overheard her asking the large, strong, able-bodied, African American mailman whether or not he thought the large pile of mail, which now belonged to her, would be too heavy for her to carry. He assured her that he could handle it and thought she probably could too. I quickly noticed that the petite, frail-looking woman was just no match for that pile of mail, so when she said she was going to have to go find someone else to take it for her, I offered my strong arms (haha) for the task. She thanked me the whole way back to her office, and I assured her that it was no problem at all. Then we parted ways.

The next day we happened to ride the same elevator, and she looked at me and said, “You’re Samantha! I’ve been telling everyone about what you did for me the other day! Thank you again!” I was glad to see her again and told her that it wasn’t a big deal at all. She responded by letting me know that “most young people these days wouldn’t have done that” (low standards, anyone?) and demanded that I go home and tell my mom what a wonderful job she did raising me (thanks, mom). Apparently I made her day or something. But what I realized during this encounter is that helping others brings joy to the giver, not just the receiver, something I always knew but was now confirmed. So, Miss Fran, I want to say that in reality YOU made MY day. I hope I get to see you again someday, even if it is only in the mail line.