Thank You for All the Smiles

“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”

― Mother Teresa

(Please enjoy this song, "You've Got a Friend in Me," by James Taylor while you read.)

*****

6:00 AM

Dear Opening Barista,

Has anyone ever told you how much brighter you make each and every day?

I see you in the morning, before my eyes have opened wide. You greet me by name as I pull up, and I don't have to speak. I pull around to the window where my coffee sits waiting. You apologize for yesterday's delay and say it's on you today.

I know better than to argue, and I smile for the first time today, all thanks to you!

I take the first sip of my latte with my eyes closed in bliss. You always make it just right -- the perfect temperature. Just the right amount of foam. Never too weak and never too strong. I simply don't know what I'd do if I had to face the day without you.

I don't know how you manage, though. You keep your smile and your joy even though you wake up at 3 am every day. Somehow, you peel yourself off of the floor with only two hours sleep, just so that I can get my morning coffee and face the day with a smile.

I watch you with affection as you stifle a yawn and fake a laugh when the hundredth person of the day tells you there's no yawning allowed when you work in a coffee shop.

You can't roll your eyes, so I do it for you. Don't they know you're working harder than they've even imagined with less sleep than they've ever known? Don't they know you've been serving others since they were still in dreamland?

I watch as you quickly dip below the counter to take a sip of that coffee you've hidden behind the register, afraid to let the world know you need coffee, too, but you don't have to hide it from me. How you survive on those tiny, secret sips is a mystery to me, and I smile as I watch you.

I grimace with anger as that customer starts yelling at you. I see in wonder as the smile you fix to your face while they berate you, and I mourn silently for you as your shoulders slump down a little more. I see you lean against the counter for support as your legs grow a little weak.

Is it anger or discouragement that drains the last of your energy? Maybe it's both. Then again, maybe you're just as saddened as I am. To see someone so full of anger and fire go through life without a smile to see them through.

Don't they know you're doing your best? Don't they know that without you, they'd have no hope their own day to make it through?

Well, I sure do, and it's probably not much comfort to you, but I hope you know - You're the best part of my day!

Sure, you make the world's best coffee, but it's so much more than that. It's that smile you share that makes you special. You hand me coffee in a cup, but it's you, morning barista, that is the best part of waking up.

You're my hero, my friend. Essential to the end, and I'm so grateful to have you!

Sincerely,

Your favorite customer who can only smile because of you!

***

7:15 AM

Dear High School Janitor,

Has anyone ever told you you're a hero?

Honestly, I don't know how we'd function without you. You're here each and every day - even the days no one else steps through the door. You sweep, you mop, you clean the toilets, too. Dearest me, I don't know what things you must see.

I go home every day, complaining of the things I see and hear. Another kid threw up, today, and the smell, oh my! But there you are, the one cleaning it up without grumbling.

"Just doing my job," you say, as though it's nothing extraordinary!

You're invisible to many, but not to me, and not to the kids either! They love you, don't you know! You make so little for all the work you do, but how much of what you make do you turn around and spend on these kids so that they have something to eat on their breaks?

You got in trouble, I hear. For selling the kids a snack the other day. Don't they know those kids are starving, and you only ask a fraction of what you paid? For those kids who fall between the cracks - be it the system or their own absent parents. You're there for them with a cookie, a cracker, maybe a cup of soup.

Don't they know that because of you, those kids can make it through the day?

Do you know that you're the reason I can make it through the day? I feel so worn out from the screaming all day, and you come in just as tired with a smile and a greeting just for me.

I see you walking home at the end of the day when I stay extra late. I want to offer you a ride, but I drive the other way, and I know from experience that you wouldn't accept it, anyway.

So, I turn the other way, excited to see you the very next day.

You're a hero, my friend. Essential to the end, and I'm so grateful to have you!

Sincerely,

Your favorite teacher on who's face you put a smile!

***

12:30 PM

Dear Drive-Thru Restaurant Worker,

Has anyone ever told you how essential you really are?

You stand on your feet for hours and hours every day. Your smile was worn away only a few hours into your day, but how many people have yelled at you so far, today?

You look positively miserable, standing in that window each day, and people complain that you should smile more as though you owe them more than just their food.

I'd like to see you smile more, too, but not for me - just for you. You try so hard to keep your joy, but it's a challenge you can't always beat.

You make minimum wage and go home to an apartment you can barely afford and try to wash the smell of fryer grease from your hair and your clothes. You lay in bed, too tired and sore to move to make food for yourself.

You feel judged and looked down on for the work that you do. What's worse, you hate your job so much that it sucks the life out of you.

You tried to stay in school so that you could get that degree and fulfill your dream, but your car broke down, and the bills added up while your paychecks got smaller and smaller each week.

How many customers make you feel like less than dirt? How many times a day do you feel like giving up? I've been there, too. I know it seems impossible right now. I still have the aprons I used to wear to remind me of who I was.

You're doing the best you can, and you're worth so much more than you sometimes believe. It's not the job you have that determines your worth. It's the fact that you show up each and every single day, with that smile you try to wear until someone steals it from you.

I wish I could say to you all of this before I drive away, but I try to make it all up with a smile just for you.

You're a hero, I swear to you, whether you remember it, anymore. You've helped me through the day, and I thank you from my heart.

You're a hero, my friend. Essential to the end, and I'm so grateful to have you!

Sincerely,

A random customer who smiled at you, today!

***

4:30 PM

Dear Gas Station Attendant,

Has anyone ever told you how amazing you are?

You look positively dead on your feet! How many cars have almost run over you, today?

I've only seen you once or twice before, but you smiled at me each time, and I see the weariness behind your eyes.

Don't you know how important you are? Don't you dare for a moment think your job is meaningless or hollow.

You work sun-up to sun-down to feed a family of four. Your children don't like to tell their friends what their parents do, but you are a hero, it's so true!

You get up each and every day to do a job that saps your strength and kills your soul, but you go home at night and kiss your kids with a hug and a smile. They're fed, and they're warm, and they're happy to have you.

You're a hero to them, and a hero to me.

So, please don't ever doubt how important I know you are, even though I only see you from the front seat of my car.

You're a hero, my friend. Essential to the end, and I'm so grateful to have you!

Sincerely,

That crazy- looking lady, smiling at you from her car!

***

5:45 PM

Dear Grocery Store Cashier,

Has anyone ever told you how glad they are you're here?

Do you know just how much relief your presence is to me? I could go to the self-check lane, but I'd rather have you do it. Truthfully, my feet are aching, and I'm too tired to do it myself, so I wait in your line.

You wait to start scanning until I've unloaded half my cart, and I'll be honest - it used to frustrate me that you didn't start scanning right away, but I soon realized you have your reasons, and you speed right through my items, anyway.

You look as tired as I feel, and I ask how long you have left.

"Six more hours," you say with a sigh, and I feel so much for you.

I've done your job before, briefly but still I know it's more exhausting than it seems. Your feet ache so much, and the fluorescent lights and constant sound gives you a headache. Yet, you wear the burden so well.

I know that by the time you get off, you'll only have an hour to eat and rest before you try to go to bed, and I hope that tonight you do not wonder if there's any point to it.

You're a hero, my friend. Essential to the end, and I'm so grateful to have you!

Sincerely,

The strange lady who tried to make you smile!

***

6:15 PM

Dear Pharmacy Technician,

I truly don't know what I would do without you. Some days, the pain gets to be too much, and I can't help but take a pill. I ran out last night and tried to get a refill.

My doctor couldn't be reached, and his office staff are sometimes so impatient with me. I stopped by just to see if there's a chance they sent it in to you, and you apologized, though I know there's only so much you can do.

I saw that man yelling at you, like it's your fault and not the HMO. I see the lady behind him, as well. She's scratching her arms and snaps loudly at you.

"Hurry up!" She screams, as if you don't have enough to do. Still, you smile at her, though we both know what she wants from you. You sell her the needles, because it's the only thing you can do, and we both watch her walk away with sadness in our eyes.

Your job I do not envy, though I appreciate you so much, I hope you know. You deal with the addicts and those who have no patience for you, and on the other side, you deal with the doctors and insurance who treat you like crap. I know it's true.

You have to know, though, how much I value you. Without you, I'd be lost, and the pain would never stop. The headaches and the anxiety would be too much for me to bear, and I wish I could do more to make it easy for you.

So, I smile and say, "thank you," hoping you know just how much you mean to me.

You're a hero, my friend. Essential to the end, and I'm so grateful to have you!

Sincerely,

The customer who shares a knowing smile with you!

***

6:45 PM

Dear Closing Barista,

You're just the best thing I could see at the end of my day. My evening Chai warms my stomach, but your brightly smiling face and joyfully beaming voice warm my weary soul.

You're my other favorite, don't you know? You go to bed when the openers wake up. Every night for you is an uphill battle. Sisyphus and his boulder have nothing on you.

Every day you come in and take over the floor from the openers before you. You serve the customers while you try to clean the store. You mop the cafe floor for the millionth time, once more. Make the coffee, clean the bathrooms, and prep the store. For the rush tomorrow morning, they'll lack nothing because of you.

All the while, you smile so sweetly as you sing those Disney songs, and every night that I can see you, is a night I know I'm blessed.

I try to think of this store without you - of a night without my most excellent chai, and my heart feels only blue!

I take a moment to talk to you, unlike everyone else, you sit with me at the window, asking how I've been.

"Is the Chai okay, today?"

My dearest barista, you are a blessing not just to me! Never doubt your impact upon each customer's day. Your job might seem endless, and you never get enough sleep, but the difference that you make is undeniable, it's so true!

You're a hero, my friend. Essential to the end, and I'm so grateful to have you!

Sincerely,

You're favorite smiling customer!

***

10:00 PM

Dear Reflection in the Mirror,

It's been a rough day again, I know. You tried so hard to keep smiling to the end, but each tear that slipped through gave you away.

You're slipping, old friend - a little less fight left in you.

Don't forget the difference you can make, though, if you keep fighting just to be you. Every day you wake up and go to work, you change the world a little more.

Every smile you share is a chance to reach someone new, and you never really know just who you've touched just by being you.

You hate your job most days, but who doesn't in this world? What makes you special is how you keep going in every day with that smile upon your face. There's a reason so many people smile back at you.

Because you're genuine, and they sense it through and through. So, don't let the weariness overwhelm you, no matter what you do!

You're a hero, old friend. Essential to the end, and even after all that we've been through, I'm so thankful to be you!

***

Dear Reader,

This world is exhausting, is it not? Sometimes, it seems impossible to keep our head up and smile at the world that wants to keep us down.

Please remember this, though, when you see a frowning face or frustrated fellow:

The world beats us all down, not just me and you, and it's no easy feat to face the world as an underpaid blue-collar worker.

We've labeled them "essential," but forgotten just what it means.

To many, they're invisible, and to others, they're someone to use and abuse.

The janitors and the baristas. The cashiers and the teachers. The garbage men and the many delivery drivers.

So many roles that make this world go 'round, and each of us is essential. No one is more or less important in this society we've made. And truly, there's no task or job in this world that isn't made better by a smile and a little recognition.

My dear reader, you're such a hero to me! Absolutely essential to keep me going. Down to the end, it's me and you, and I'm so unbelievably grateful to have you!!

Sincerely,

Your favorite former smiling barista, turned still smiling freelance writer!

*****

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