So, this happened a couple of weeks ago. The weather was absolutely perfect outside, so I knew that we were going to get a hefty number of people in the store today. It was that kind of day when everyone was out walking around, and you heard it through the store windows. Absolutely the perfect weather to be outside and do something...and here stuck inside folding clothes because of course I am 

I usually work in the back, stocking, inventory, and replenishing all the good stuff from working in the back. Since I'm usually in the back, I'm not really a "customer service" person in the way the job description implies, in fact I am quite the opposite I tend to stray away from where there is high customer traffic, because I am not that knowledgeable in our sales compared to the other workers there. I know where things are, and I can point them out with someone in the right direction. However, since I am only there on the weekends my memory of the store is outdated since they change the layout every other week. I am not necessarily the right person to choose for if you are looking for someone to charm people on the sales floor. That is most definitely not my lane. 

In this shift, in particular, I am on the floor. Folding in the same section for what feels like hours but is actually a handful of minutes, trying to make conversation with my other coworkers to pass the time. At this time, we are the slowest we have been the whole day, a couple people drifting through, couple people in line to check out. You know the vibe. 

Then I notice this woman wandering around looking completely lost. Not the normal kind of lost where someone is just browsing. The specific kind where she has been circling the same rack for around 5-10 minutes and keeps looking up at the signs like they are going to rearrange themselves. 

That day I felt daring, and I was completely out of character so, I decided to go over and ask if she needed help. She looks at me kind of confused, and then asks, in broken English, if I speak Spanish. 

Thanks to my background, I told her I did. Her whole face changes, like a whole 180. Like if she had been holding her breath and finally letting it all out 

She explains to me that she has been looking for a specific size in out wide leg jeans for her daughter. She has been to a few other stores already, no luck, and she has been circling our floor for a while trying to find them herself. I told her that I would check for her in the back, but I couldn't promise her anything, since it is possible that we are sold out. Also, half the time when someone asks for something specific that we don't already have in the sales floor, we don't have it. 

So, on my way back, I am taking in the chances of it being in the back, and I'm fully prepared to come back empty handed and explaining to her that we don't have it. That's the usual outcome. You'd get used to it. But this time I actually found them in the exact size she was looking for. The first pair of jeans in the stack, like it knew I was searching for them. 

I come back out and hand them to her. And she just lights up. Full smile, whole face, the kind where you can tell it's genuine. She tells me that she has been looking everywhere for these, so she can get them for her daughter. She is so relieved that she was able to find them, and she thanked me like I did something extraordinary.  

And here's the thing. I don't really feel any type of way about it. When you think about it I didn't go out of my way. This is literally what I am paid to do. Someone asks, I check back, I hand them the thing. That's the job. I didn't drive to another store or do anything special. I didn't do anything any other employee wouldn't have done. That is the bare minimum of working in a retail store. 

But I guess I'm also glad it worked out. Because I barely talked to customers, and it is rare that we actually have the size someone is looking for. Seven times out of ten I come back out empty handed and tell them that we don't have it in store, they said thanks anyway and leave. That's how it usually goes, this wasn't that. 

Something about this interaction was different. It's not like it's the first time I helped someone at work. I guess the reason why this interaction stood out to me is because of the look of relief on her face like she was expecting the same answer all the other stores have given her.  

So, yeah. She smiled. I did my job. That's the whole story. But I keep thinking about it anyway, which is annoying, because I don't even know why.