Yesterday I was a bit early for a date so I stopped in at McDonald’s for a coffee. I think they make the best coffee. Two very pleasant young girls were working at the counter and the customer ahead was hard to please!

The young girl was sweaty and near tears. I only wanted coffee but I liked lots of milk in it. I really didn’t want to be difficult so I said, “You go ahead and add lots of milk and if it’s not enough, I’ll ask for more.” She smiled. She made a perfect coffee. I left her two pink candies as a tip (小费).

I went to her supervisor and let the leader know how well she dealt with such a difficult customer ahead of me. More of that needs to be done for young people starting out — probably the first job.

I remember how hard it was. I would have run away crying and quit, if it had been me yesterday serving those customers. I’d still be crying too.

Comments posted by molliecat on July 29, 2018

READERS’ COMMENTS

FayBaby wrote: Customer service can be one of the most difficult and thankless jobs at times. Your expression of appreciation (感激) probably made her day.

Mish wrote: How dear you were to lend support there, dear molliecat. Love you!

Kiwicat wrote: My sons both have very unpleasant first job stories of how rude and demanding customers can be. I now always encourage a new cashier or someone to do job training. Thanks for the reminder (提醒物) that we can be more thankful to those who offer front-line customer service.

Mindyjourney wrote: Thank you for helping calm the young worker with your appreciation and thoughtfulness. So many good lessons you have earned are shared. Blessings, dear molliecat.

What to Do when You’re Falling Behind

When I was a kid, it took me longer to learn how to ride a bike. I kept using a bike with training wheels and I didn’t _______ much, so of course I didn’t learn how to balance.

One day I _______ that my sister, 2.5 years younger than me, was getting close to _______ how to ride a bike. She wasn’t quite there yet, but she was _______ much closer to balancing than I was. I couldn’t let her _______ me to it!

So I took my bike, _______ it out to the street, and decided that I was going to learn how to ride it right now. I _______ the training wheels, jumped on, and swerved (突然转向) all over the place like an out-of- control madman. I tried to stay near the grass when I could get some degree of _______, so when I fell, I’d _______ fall to the lawn instead of the street or sidewalk.

After many attempts, I finally learned how to ________ Then I rode my bike a lot that summer and have had the ________ ever since.

Up until that point, I’d been making a big deal out of the whole process. It seemed ________ and discouraging. I was afraid of falling. But once I began to face the fear and ________ the courage to risk getting hurt, I quickly showed my ________ ability on the other side with a whole new skill. From the moment of making the decision to the time I ________ to get the basic skill it probably took me less than an hour.

What finally ________ me to face the fear and take action? It was the ________ that I was falling behind. My sister was leaving me in the dust. She could ride ________ I couldn’t. I really didn’t want that to happen.

I had no idea that I could learn to ride a bike so quickly. The feeling of falling behind served as a powerful motivator (动力). ________ trying to hide the disappointment, I allowed myself to feel the weight of that pressure. I used the ________ feeling to motivate myself to take action.

   Of course, she wasn’t really my aunt and, out of fear, I never called her that to her face. I only referred to her as “My Aunt Fannie” because the name always made my father laugh quietly and gave my mother cause to look strictly at both of us — at me for being disrespectful to my elder and at my father for encouraging my bad behavior. I enjoyed both reactions so I looked for every opportunity to work the name into as many conversations as possible.

As a young woman, my mother had worked in the kitchen of a large Victorian farmhouse. During those years my mother helped Aunt Fannie make the best blueberry jam ever tasted by anyone in Glenfield. She was well-known for her jam and for never sharing the recipe (食谱) with others. Even though my mother knew the recipe by heart, as long as Aunt Fannie was alive, she never made the jam without Aunt Fannie in our kitchen to direct the process and kept the secret.

Each August, my mother would prepare me for Aunt Fannie’s visit. One year, after I had helped with the jam process Aunt Fannie gave me a coin and then made me promise that I would never spend it. “Hold onto this coin,” she said, “and someday you will be rich. I still have my very first coin, given to me by my grandmother.” So I kept the coin in a small box and waited to become rich.

I now have the blueberry jam recipe and the coin from Aunt Fannie. In people’s eyes Aunt Fannie’s success resulted from that secret recipe. But to me, it was just a common recipe. Neither has made me become a rich person, but 1 keep them as reminders (提醒人的事物) to hold onto the valuable things in life. Money can make you feel rich for a while, but it is the relationships and the memories of time spent with friends and family that truly leave you wealthy. And that is a fortune that anyone can build.

When Elizabeth married Joseph Fry, it seemed as if her life would be 【小题1】 (comfort) and peaceful. However, Elizabeth was not content with her easy life. One day Elizabeth Fry visited 【小题2】 prison. At first the prison officers did not want her to visit the women prisoners because they feared the prisoners would attack her, but Elizabeth was not afraid. She found that the prisoners behaved 【小题3】 (bad) because they were being treated like animals. So the first thing that Elizabeth 【小题4】 (do) was provide food, clean clothes and straw for beds. Her 【小题5】 (kind) helped her gain the friendship of the prisoners. Later Elizabeth 【小题6】 (ask) by the government to see the leaders of Britain to discuss how 【小题7】 (improve) the conditions for prisoners. Of course she did not do all the work 【小题8】 her own. Other women helped her and went around the country, 【小题9】 (raise) money for her work. Some people did not like her ideas and quarreled with her. Other people said she enjoyed being famous too much. However, her husband, Joseph, supported and encouraged her, so she continued working to help improve the lives of prisoners 【小题10】 she died.

I tried a new lifestyle. I gave up the Internet, but even didn’t watch TV. I thought I would feel very boring. However, I had very different day. I wrote two article that morning. In the past, I always want to write one, but I didn’t have time. While I was separated from the Net and TV, I could devote me to writing. I once read an article, that said that every morning the writer spent two hours write without the Net. At that time, I thought of she was too strict. After I tried the method myself, I found it real worthwhile.