Being Civil

I was at work when a guy came in to make a copy. When he was at the register, I told him it was eight cents. I held out my hand for the change he was sifting through. He looked up, dropped one nickel into my hand. After a moment of hesitation he dropped the other one into my hand. I gave him two cents change, dropping the first penny into his outstretched hand. When I dropped the other one, however, it bounced off his hand and onto the counter. I grabbed the receipt and handed it to him, but he still held out his hand, and I realized he still hadn't picked up the other penny. I picked up the penny and put it in his hand and he said, "It's called learning to be civil." After he walked out the door, I thought to myself, What a jerk. But then I began to think about it. Although he didn't have to be rude about it, I realized that a little reminder to be polite can't really hurt a person. I mean, remembering to hold a door open for someone, giving someone a compliment, those are things that make a difference. You might not even remember helping that person but later you might find out that it made all the difference for that person having a good day or a bad day. It's like that commercial where a man helps an older lady off a bus, and someone else sees it and then does something nice for someone else and someone else sees that and does something kind for someone else and so on and so forth- it can start a chain reaction. So even though it was a small comment and two small minutes out of my day, that comment made a difference. Don't just be civil, but be kind and mean it because it could really turn someone's day around.