Inspiration Gained from Eavesdropping

A few days ago I raced out to run a few errands, two of which had deadlines: I needed to get to the bank and to the post office before they closed. Because of how heavy traffic can be at that time of day, I knew I didn’t have much time to spare.

Entering the post office, I saw two women already at the service window and only one waiting in line ahead of me. This should go quickly, I thought, relieved that I would be on my way to the bank in moments. 

But I thought wrong.

The women at the window were picking up an application of some sort. And they had questions about how it needed to be filled out. A lot of questions. The postal employee was pleasantly answering each query they raised, explaining in detail exactly what information was needed and how it should be provided. 

I’ll admit that I glanced at my watch several times as he continued to make sure that the women fully understood the do’s and don’ts of filling out the form. 

Things weren’t moving as fast as I would have liked, but I couldn’t help but be impressed by the care and concern the postal employee was showing toward his clients.

When the woman ahead of me stepped to the window, I saw she had five or six envelopes in her hand. It turned out that she wanted to send each letter as certified mail. So the postal worker explained the sub categories within the general “certified” heading, highlighting the pros and cons of each option. 

Also, the woman didn’t have the address on a couple of the envelopes, having assumed she could get the paperwork done and the postage paid—and then could step away from the window while she filled in the missing information. 

It was a naive mistake at best and a stupid mistake at worst. But the postal employee took it in stride, having her fill in the missing addresses while he attended to the other letters. As he worked, he explained what she could do to make things move faster if she ever wanted to send certified mail in the future. Never once did he show frustration or in any way demean her for not being fully prepared. 

When I finally stepped to the window, he gave me his full and undivided—and truly pleasant—attention, just as the clients before me had received. I handed him the book I was sending, noting that I wanted to send it “media,” as that was the cheapest option.

He quickly measured the package, informing me that its dimension just barely allowed it to be sent at the letter rate, if I preferred. The media rate would give me a tracking number; but the letter rate would save me about 90 cents.

I opted to save 90 cents. He stamped the package, wished me a good day, and I headed out the door—inspired by what I’d seen, even if I’d spent longer there than planned. It did my heart good to see a true servant of the people in action, at a time when a lot of government employees are—most of them unfairly, I think—accused of just working for a paycheck.

Fortunately, I made it to the bank with five minutes to spare. Then I headed to the grocery store, where closing time was still hours away.

I got out of my car just as a young mother was getting out of her car with her daughter, who I guessed was about 6 years old. They were a few feet ahead of me and off to my left as we walked toward the store, moving at the same speed.

I didn’t hear clearly the question the little girl asked, but from her mother’s reply, it was clear that the girl wanted to get together with one of her friends. The mother’s response was classic.

“You know,” she said, “you are a very lucky girl to be able to spend so much time with your friend Amy. You get to be with her at school every day. And you get to be with her at all the after-school activities you’re both involved in. And I understand how much you like Amy and how fun it is to be with her. 

“But your family likes to be with you the same way you like to be with Amy—because you’re so fun to be with. So tonight will be family time. And tomorrow you can be with Amy again at school. OK?”

The little girl replied, “OK.” And she didn’t even say it grudgingly.

I don’t make it a habit to eavesdrop. But I must say that when I recently did so—I hasten to add that it was sort of accidentally—in both the post office and a grocery store parking lot, it turned out to be a truly inspiring experience. The world has a lot more good and wise people than we sometimes realize.