My husband and I always liked living in a rural area or a small town. We knew we would have to give up some of the luxuries that are available in a metropolitan area but we liked the feel of a small community where you knew your neighbor and people helped each other.
So when we retired, we lived in a rural area and had many friends and good neighbors but it wasn't exactly what we wanted. We decided to move back to the lake area as we liked it so much when we lived here years ago and we had friends still here so in a way it was like coming home.
I've griped and complained because I might not be able to find what I want in the stores so we have to drive a few miles to find what we are looking for or I complain because we don't have all the accessibility here that we might have in a large area, but at the same time, I love the feel of the small community and the closeness of neighbors and good friends.
Today proved to be another reason why I love living in a small town/rural area. We have a choice of grocery stores but I have one in particular that I like and even though I don't go as often as I did, they are still friendly and treat me as an old friend. The same with our local dollar store.
A couple of years ago, our small Walmart decided to put in a super store and we were all thrilled as we would have access to things that wouldn't require driving 35 to 70 miles away for. However, the economy forced them to downsize it just a bit but it still is larger and offers more than we had before so I do a lot of my shopping there.
Today I stopped at my grocery store to pick up a few things I like to get from them, then next door to the Dollar store for a few things and finally my last stop was Walmart.
I needed some cat litter and always buy a particular brand and there was a box with a $1.00 coupon on it so I got it. When I got to the checkout, I peeled it off according to the little arrow that said, "Peel here". However it stuck to the box and took half of the box with it. I was trying to see if it would separate as was so sticky and just knew there had to be something wrong.
The cashier had rung up my purchases and I told her, "Well, I had a coupon but it tore off part of the box and I guess it isn't any good." She took it and said, "Let me see it." She began working trying to peel away the sticky part to no avail and then tried scraping off the pieces of the box with her fingernail. She turned off the light of her check out and worked about fifteen minutes on this coupon. I told her it was to much work and that it was okay but she wanted to help.
The whole time she was talking about how coupons really help as they add up and then switched to talk about Christmas and was I ready. We discussed baking and gifts and finally she did give it up and I paid for my purchases. When I got ready to leave, she apologized for not being able to help me, told me to have a good day and a Merry Christmas.
I wished her a good day and a Merry Christmas as well and when I left the store, I knew this is one of the reasons we came here. The feel of camaraderie of the people, the friendliness and a genuine feeling of wanting to help one another.
In our daily lives, we get busy and sometimes forget the courtesy we should show to others and especially at this time of the year when stores are busier and shoppers are out in droves. But somehow in our small community, we still take the time to show courtesy and help our neighbors and friends or in this case, the customers.
There are a lot of bad feelings at times about Walmart but I feel fortunate that our local one is friendly, clean and often carries USA products and advertises them as such. And if it is something I don't want to buy because it is foreign, I don't have too and no one is going to criticize me for it.
Perhaps if we all took a little more time to smile and say a kind word, not only during this season, but all the time, we might discover that even the largest of cities could be as nice as the smallest.
For now, I'm happy that we decided to come here and we have wonderful friends, great neighbors and we also have great storekeepers who appreciate us. It makes me feel good all over.
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