Nicer Than I Have to Be

Last week I went to my local pharmacy to pick up my anti-epilepsy medication refill (early this time!) when I was told by the cashier that there was no prescription with my name ready to be picked up.  I had spelled my name for her, as I do with everyone, to ensure that she was looking for my name, yet she said there nothing that matched.  I asked her politely to look up my prescription to see when it would be ready -- I figured that since I was physically there, I might as well find out when I should come back.  She must be new because she leaned over the to the back to talk to the assistant pharmacist to ask the question rather than use the computer.  The assistant pharmacist recognized me and assured the girl working the counter that it was ready because she (the assist. pharm.) had filled it herself.

During this whole exchange, I could see a bag sitting on one of the "filled" shelves with the letters LAR written across the front of it.  I even suggested that it could be mine (again, spelling out LAR for Larsen), but I was assured that it was not for me.  Finally, the assistant pharmacist walked around to the front counter and pulled out the bag I had ask about and told the cashier that it was for me.  The cashier's response was: "Larsen?  I thought you said Lawson."  She never apologized, she never admitted fault, she just rang me up.  When the transaction was done, I said some words I wasn't expecting:

"Thank you."

I realized as I was walking away that it wasn't that long ago that I would have chewed this girl out for refusing to listen to me -- because you can't simply mishear someone three separate times unless you're actively not listening.  And while she would have deserved it, I took the better path and just let it go.  I don't mean for this to come off as me patting myself on the back.  Rather, I want to illustrate that being nice to people, even those who don't deserve it, really is the better for everyone.  I didn't riled up unnecessarily and she was able to more quickly help the next customer in line.

I don't know why I've struggled with being nice to strangers, but I'm glad I'm seeing a positive difference.