How Ten Minutes at a Checkout Counter Saved My Christmas

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

I'm going to break from the usual format because something happened on Christmas Eve that I probably will always remember. Though it could be considered a minuscule thing to most, it touched me deeply and I hope it can act as the same kind of reminder for you that it was for me.

It's the holiday season and like a lot of folks, I picked up a retail job to help supplement the income and finance the holidays. And for some reason this year especially, my dealings with people had left me very jaded. People seemed to forget what the holidays and Christmas are really all about. Instead, people were very selfish, very ignorant and very greedy.

Working retail at Christmas time means working hours you don't want to work and sure enough, I was working Christmas Eve until closing time. Between my lack of desire to be there and everyone else's frantic craze to get the last minute gifts, there was not much Christmas spirit going around. People had little regard for each other as they bustled around and the interactions I had with customers were terse and cursory. People seemed to find each other more of a nuisance than anything else.

The store was closing at 6:00 promptly and my managers instructed us to shoo everyone out the door exactly at closing time. At 5:59, a man came to my register with arms loaded with gifts. He plopped them down and said, "I'm so sorry to be doing this to you. I know that you are trying to get home to your family, but I just landed a couple hours ago and this is the first opportunity I've had to shop."

I asked him where he was coming from and he told me he was in the military and had just come from Indiana where he had been stationed. I welcomed him home and commented that it must be nice to be home just in time for Christmas. He said that it was, but added that it would be a short stay. He was getting sent to Afghanistan the day after Christmas.

I totalled up the purchases and bagged them. At this point, it was about ten past the hour and one of the managers said over the walkie talkies that she was going to lock the doors as soon as everyone was gone. The man took that as his cue to leave, but before doing so thanked me again for helping him even though we were closing, and apologized to me for taking more time away from my family. He then shook my hand and wished me a merry Christmas.

I shook his hand, wished him a merry Christmas, thanked him for everything he does and asked him to be safe over there.

This man had less than 48 hours to spend with his family before going overseas and possibly not being able to talk to his family for weeks at a time, yet he took the time to thank me and apologize to me for my time. It had been a while since I had seen anybody thinking selflessly this holiday season and it reminded me that there are so many good people in this world, many of which aren't blessed with the ability be with their families because they are busy protecting us and our freedoms. This man is putting his life in danger in a couple of days and still was thinking of others and how his actions affect them.

His actions, as small as they might seem to most, affected me and saved my Christmas. I pray I never forget that short conversation and that any time I'm feeling the way I was this year, I can think back to that and remember.

Thank you sir, wherever you are. Merry Christmas and may you and all who serve our country return safely home.