365 Days of Happy - Day 346

So, an interesting thing happened to me tonight. I was working at the Edge, like I do every Thursday night, and of course we didn't have any customers because it was like 8 degrees out. 

But then Blaine came in around 6. He lives in Palmyra and owns a school bus company and has a farm near town. He's a regular, maybe in his 50's, comes in all the time, and is just the nicest person ever. His wife just passed away from cancer. He's supported Urime and the Edge for a long time. One thing I like about Blaine is that he treats everyone with respect - his friends, Urime, Selim, the waitresses, the hostesses, the cook - everyone. You can tell a lot about someone by how they treat people below them.

He was waiting for his friends to show up, but asked for a hot chocolate, and when I gave it to him he asked me how school was going. We chatted for a bit. Small talk sort of stuff. But I liked it, because I had never really talked to Blaine, and he was the only one in the restaurant, so it was nice. After I took a phone call I grabbed my cup of coffee and went and sat with him.

This doesn't seem important, but it really was for me. I've been working at the Edge since June, so 7 months now, and I know most of the regulars, their drink orders, where they sit, and what they like to eat. Blaine is one of my favorites, along with Scooter, Don, and Sylvia. But I've always been too shy to even hold a conversation with them. I'm in work mode, always making sure they have enough coffee and water. Tonight was the first night I actually had a deep conversation with one of my customers.

We talked about his school bus company, and how he's been doing that for years. He said that being a bus driver is more than just carting kids around. A bus driver is the first person a child sees in the morning and the last person they see after school. So many kids don't have parents that will help them get on the bus because they work and may not come home until late, and a bus driver can make a huge impact on a child's life. I like that.

One thing Blaine told me was that I should be a model, which, I'm not going to lie, I've heard before. He's talked about it with the usual group he sits with on Sunday mornings, which was a surprise to me because I was always so intimidated by that group who sits in the back round table.

It was the perfect thing I needed tonight, just talking with Blaine, one of the nicest people I've met. It was nice being reminded how beautiful I am, which happened in the least creepy way possible, believe me. I just broke up with my boyfriend, so that small act and compliment, just talking with a friend, was enough to brighten my day.