The cashier at the grocery store asked if I was okay and I almost lost it

She was just being nice but her asking caught me off guard after I'd been fake smiling all day at work, and it hit different because I realized nobody in my actual life ever asks that.

4 comments

4 Comments

diana5126d ago

Oh man, I gotta say @thomas_torres I think you're giving the cashier too much credit here. She was probably just doing her job and being polite, not really digging into your soul or anything. But the real point is that those random kindnesses from strangers hit harder because they're unexpected, not because they actually know you. It's like, a stranger can say "you good?" and it means something, but your own people who should be asking never do until you break down first.

jade_jenkins4d ago

Nah, I think sometimes a stranger actually sees you clearer than anyone close does!

sage3086d ago

Pause and think about how many times a day you walk past people who might be holding it together by a thread, and instead of asking anything real you just say "hey how are you" and keep moving. @diana512 nailed it when she pointed out that strangers can cut through all that noise because they have nothing to lose, and that's exactly why those moments hit so hard. Honestly, the way we've built our whole social rhythm around surface level check-ins means the only time anyone actually gets asked the real question is when we're already falling apart.

thomas_torres6d ago

That "it hit different" part really got me, because I've been there too. What helped me was making a point to check in on one friend each week and just ask them honestly how they're doing, no small talk. Sometimes you have to be the person who asks first before anyone will ask you.