Member-only story
“You Have a Great Day, Now”
An Angel at the Airport
“You have a good day, ma’am. How are you doing today, miss?” Her pleasant voice floated through the ladies' room as I rushed in, having held my water a little too long because of a long flight delay.
I caught her kind eyes, smiled, surprised. She smiled back.
I settled into a stall, relieved. And listened.
The cleaning woman greeted every single one of us as we walked in. Wished us a lovely day as we walked out.
She meant it.
Every single one of us.
Lord only knows how many hours she had been doing this, cleaning up our paper, our splashes, our footprints.
She moved quietly across the floor, cleaning stalls, flushing, wiping, a steady stream of greetings and pleasant goodbyes as we flowed in and out.
She never lost a step, Never missed anyone.
From my private perch I could hear the surprise in people’s voices. You could hear them smile.
Who, me?
Who greets people in an airport bathroom? Who takes the time to make sure you know you’ve been noticed, acknowledged, valued?