Last week on the day of Thanksgiving, there was a old gentleman who came into my store asking for help. He had been walking around for a while and became lost. It was quite evident from the contents of his wallet (to which he presented to me) that he was beginning to suffer, or at least prepare, from dementia. He carried information such as the location of where he lives, cards indicating what kind of car he and his wife drives, and his wife’s phone number.
I was going to initially just direct him to where he would have to go in order to get back home. The only problem was that there were two possible locations that I was being given when I searched the address on Google Maps. There were minor differences (and one was kind of an exact match), but the addresses were on completely opposite sides. I didn’t want to risk having to force this old gentleman to walk one way only to find out he was going the wrong way.
I had then suggested that he could stay until I would close the store; it was on Thanksgiving so I would be closing earlier to begin with. The older gentleman, Rod, did come in around 2pm and I would be closing up at 3pm. I offered to drive him to his home if we needed to. Rod assured me that would not be necessary but if I could phone his wife instead, it would help him. It was fairly evident that Rod had felt embarrassed and wanted to repay me somehow for assisting him. He had even suggested that he’d be willing to pay to use my phone (to which I declined the payment, of course).
The first attempt had failed, however upon trying once more, we were able to speak to his wife. After I had described the location of my store, she promptly gave me her gratitude and hung up. It wasn’t long until she arrived to pick her husband up. Rod felt so thankful that he wanted to introduce me to his wife. After a few exchanges between me and the wife, they both left saying that they’d definitely come back to check the store out some more.
Fast forward to Monday (two days back from this date), I see two older couples come into the store. I can see the warm smiles from both Rod and his wife. It was only then I realized that her name was Ayato and that she was Japanese. My father was also there so she explained as to why she came in to visit. I never told my father about the event (I had forgotten about it by then) so he was surprised by her story.
Ayato then gave me some pumpkin bread that she had baked herself as thanks (and oh my GOD it was good!!). To further “thank” me, they walked around trying to look for items to purchase. I initially insisted on them taking it since they gave me pumpkin bread (even though I knew they would decline). It was after they had left that I felt pretty refreshed. It honestly wasn’t much but to these two individuals, it meant a lot to them.
Just thought I might share this bit. I guess for once, this wouldn’t be properly categorized under Chronicles of a “Disgruntled” Store Owner.