Good morning and Ah Frelichen Chanuka, I want to share an amazing event which I had the privilege to witness.
This past Tuesday night, the forth night of Chanuka, I went to NPGS James St. to do some quick shopping for my wife. The store was relatively empty and quite. I wasn’t in a rush, and the battery on my phone was dead, so I actually had time to look around. As I was checking out, I saw a Yungerman come into to the store any make a beeline to a specific cashier. He had a box of nicely wrapped donuts in his hand and there appeared to be a card on the box as well. He went over to the cashier and said something to him that literally brought tears to my eyes.
He said “Mr. ________, this store at many times is busy and crazy. Going shopping here, was always stressful for me as I don’t enjoy the hustle bustle of things. Ever since you started working here, I enjoy coming shopping at NPGS. You always have a smile on your face and you always have a good line to tell me. Thank you for making my shopping experience so enjoyable and exciting. Please take this gift, as a token of appreciation from me.” He went on to tell the cashier how this was a gift from his many secret admirers and how “he is not the only one who appreciates his humor and calm demeanor”.
The cashiers face shone! There was this huge smile of genuine happiness written all over his face. He was so emotional and moved! It was clear that he was truly touched by this act of pure selflessness. It was clear to me, that this yungerman just made an impact on another Jews life and touched him in a very special way!!
I quickly left the store, trying to catch up with this Yungerman and asked him what that was all about, and why he did such an incredible act. He told me something amazing, which got me realizing how lucky I am to be part of such a special nation. “This guy is here day in day out”, he said. He’s working here tonight as well, it must be very hard for him not to attend any Chanuka parties, or just to relax, when we all are going to parties, I wanted him to realize that people actually appreciate him and actually acknowledge his presence.”
I drove home that night deep in thought, thinking to myself, how many times have I received good from somebody and not let them know that I appreciate what they did. How many times was I to busy focusing on my OWN needs and not have a chance to acknowledge, to compliment, or to smile. How may opportunities have I lost due to the usage of my cell phone, answering emails or texts.
Chanuka is a time of gratitude, a time of thank you. There are good people out there! Everybody, without an exception, is a recipient of somebody else’s good. We get so much good and we CAN GIVE so much good! It’s easy to make a difference in somebody else’s life. A small act of selflessness can have such an incredible impact on somebody’ else’s life. Let’s open our eyes and realize that we can truly make a difference in our world. All it takes is a smile, a thank you or a simple hello.
Let’s go this Chanuka to keep these amazing acts of selflessness moving forward.
(TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to [email protected])
Awesome story! Love it!
What a beautiful gesture.
Lakewood has lots of thoughtful and considerate people!
Kiddush Hashem!?
Lakewood strong!!
Very very nice! I love to learn from all the many displays of gratitude,and just when I think I thanked everyone on my list, I hear such a story which shoes you that people really stretch their imagination and think of so many people I wouldn’t think of
Beautiful act that truly does make a huge difference in a persons day and possibly life.
So touching! Thanks for sharing – a great story!!
What you guys have been missing in this story is the “Ikker”! Obviously this cashier was from אנ”ש and it is so much more comfortable to deal with them.
Seems like the James co-op attracts special people…
Last year, about this time of year when I was shopping at James co-op, I experienced my own personal miracle. I was in my eighth month of pregnancy, and with two babies, couldn’t really move much, but decided to go shopping anyway. It was before the days when James had enough staff to bag the items. Anyway, when I came to checkout there were two very sweet boys bagging my items. I thought to myself, “Oh, how cute, the manager of the store must have brought his kids here since they had a day off and needed something to do.” It was only after I left the store and saw those boys jump into the car of the man who had paid before me, that I realized these boys/father were just doing a chessed out of the pureness of their hearts.
I got in the car and burst into tears. Was so touched.
Wonder if the father is the same yungerman as above…
What a Beautiful story but why be so surprised we see Chesed and mentschlichkeit all over our town, one thing I would like to mention Some people young or old have no idea what just a smile or a good word can do, Another thing A person does not necessarily have to be Jewish for us to wish them a good word or smile, Then it would be even more KIDUSH HASHEM,
What a beautiful story, especially on Chanukah. Who is like the Am Yisroel?? I live out of town and was just mentioning to my husband yesterday about how nice people are in LAKEWOOD and have such good midos. It must be from learning so much Torah!!! Keep up the great work !!
Gotta love Lakewood