The Mystery Man

We needed a few groceries so we stopped by Publix on the way home. There wasn’t anything remarkable about this visit, but as we stood in line I began to notice the man ahead of us. On the conveyer belt was a bouquet of flowers, a gift card, and a greeting card — birthday, anniversary, or get well soon — I don’t remember. 

I looked at the man, and I noticed his pleated khakis, white sneakers, and mismatched shirt and belt. He seemed humble, and maybe like he was in some kind of pain, but he was happy, too. When it came his turn to pay, he greeted the cashier with more heartfelt kindness than I’d seen in anyone in a long time. No one has to greet people like that, but he did.

Immediately after hearing him, I imagined this man’s life — where he lived, who his friends were. Of course, I have no real idea who he was at all. I know he works at a hardware store, because we coincidentally saw him there a few days later. But other than that, this man’s life is a complete mystery to me. 

We’ve talked about him several times since that encounter at the grocery store. We know his first name only because of a hardware store name tag. He impressed me somehow, and it’s amazed me several times that I remember him. And him taking a minute to kindly and gently respond to the cashier has stuck with me.

Taking time to notice the people around us, those whom others may ignore, makes us more attune to notice people like this man. It makes us actually see, and when we see, we notice the humanity of those surrounding us. It’s easy to ignore the guy in the checkout line after a long days work — it’s easy to get angry in traffic, to give a short answer to the cashier when they ask how we’re doing. It’s altogether too easy to forget that we’re surrounded by actual people who have families and friends whom they care about deeply. But it’s worth it to take a minute to do that, just like he did. He noticed the cashier who maybe needed someone to be nice to her. And I noticed him being kind to her, and I’m glad I did. It made me choose to be nice to her too. I’m glad I noticed; all those gifts on the conveyer belt and the way this very hidden, secret man made my day by returning a kindness for the person on the other side of the register.