This week I was the instrument of two learning experiences.
A new clerk at PLC. Nothing new in that. One thing I have learned is stop-and-robs have a huge turnover of clerks.
This lady was excited because my ticket was the first powerball ticket with “extra” as she called it that she had sold. She didn’t have a clue. But her trainer-manager was patient and kind with his instructions. It’s so cool to be part of a learning process. I love watching the spark in the eyes when a new thing clicks – the “Yes! I’ve got it!” moment. It appeals to my perception of being the center of the universe to be part of someone else’s life changing moment.
I was still smiling at her joy of learning when I got to the next stop on my errand-running list – the local dent-and-ding outlet.
The shop was having a store-wide 40% off sale. How cool is that? Everything at almost half off! And it just so happened that what I was buying was sales tax exempt. And it also just so happened that the clerk had never before done a sale tax exempt sale. And it just so happened that afternoon the register had a glitch. It seemed trying to do both 40% off and sales tax exempt was more than its poor little computer processor could compute. He had to ring up the sale three times before he and the cash register were communicating with each other. He learned a lot with that sale. And I learned that I was in no hurry to finish my errands. We were both laughing by the time the whole process was finished.
At first glance, learning how to sell a money-losing lottery ticket may not seem to be much a life-changing moment. And learning how to work around a stubborn cash register would not be a source of laughter. But learn anything, anything at all and life is changed. And laughter is good for the heart and the brain.
Learning and laughter? And me being the instrument of both? Too cool for words.