It was Friday afternoon at 4:45 p.m. and I was sitting in the drivers seat of my trusted Passat, “Geno”. (Yes, I named my car. If I take good care of Geno, then he will take good care of me! Right?) I was waiting my turn at the Emissions Inspection Center. I had checked the waiting line status online prior to leaving the office. The online notice says that there is only a 3 minute wait. Cool! I’m on my way!

The line was indeed very short. I was the third car in line. Before I knew it, I was the second car in line. A smiling employee bounced over to my car. “Good afternoon, I hope you are having a wonderful day!”, was the greeting that floated through my open window. She proceeded to take me through the process of checking in my car and taking my fee. “Now you only need to wait another minute, and we will have you pull right in”, she said. She gave a freindly wave as she bounced off to the car that had pulled in behind me.

Sure enough, the employee in the bay quickly waved me in. With a big smile on his face, he asked me to turn off my ignition, please step out of the car and have a seat in the chair they have waiting for me. There was friendly banter between the two employees who processed my car and then a cheerful shout that they were all done!

I made the comment that everyone there was so happy and friendly. With a huge smile on his face, he replied “Oh yes! We are very happy. It is Friday and it is time for us to go home. This is my second job, and I’ve been hard at work for 14 hours today!”

It really struck me that here were people that had worked very hard. I’m sure the last thing they wanted to do was process another car, yet they still had the ability to greet me as if I was a guest in their home. I really wasn’t expecting this. I was expecting people that were going through the motions to get cars processed as quickly as possible and to move on to the next one. I was expecting to be treated as just the next car. Instead, I was a guest, and they were making sure that I was taken care of and had a pleasant experience.

How many of us have this ability? We are all capable of always treating each other with kindness and respect, but do we? How do I react when I am tired, exhausted, worn out, and want to go home? Something to ponder……

I waved and shouted, “Have a nice weekend”, as I pulled out of the bay. Wait….what?? I waved? Do people do that to the Emissions Inspection guy? I guess you do when you leave a home where you have been a guest.