Submitted by: John, CO
Sometimes you just need to keep an open mind, and a few extra minutes can make all the difference.
I manage a running store, something I’ve been doing proudly for 19 years. An elite runner in my younger days, running is in my blood. It’s how I’ve seen the world with nothing but a pair of sneakers. It’s how I met my wife. It’s given me health. It’s helped me when my health wasn’t perfect. It has allowed me to earn breathtaking vistas, sunrises, and sunsets. It’s allowed me to meet some incredible people.
As a store manager, I sample the buffet of humanity. I meet funny people, determined people, experienced runners, and novices, wide-eyed and excited at the possibility of reclaiming their fitness. I meet grumpy know-it-alls who storm in and grumble. I’ve seen just about everything, and I take it in stride (no pun intended).
This day, though, was different. This day caught me off guard.
It was a Sunday, and I was scheduled to leave the store at 4pm. Daylight was in short supply, and on a blustery November evening, I was eager to get home. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to stay until the store closed and a little beyond. As I tidied up boxes, shoelaces, displays, and clothing, the universe had a reason for me to stay.
About 4:57 (store closes at 5:00) a customer walked into the store. I begrudgingly worked the scenario in my mind as I nodded and smiled and muttered a greeting with all the enthusiasm I could muster…the oft-occurring scenario meant I’d be home at 6pm rather than my original 4:30 plan.
Within a few minutes of discussion, the customer reminded me why I do what I do. The customer was perceptively overweight and out of shape at approximately 5’7”, nearing 300 pounds. I put them on the scanner to do a foot analysis, and as we talked through running goals and experience, they told me in the last year they had worked out and lost 120lbs. My attitude changed immediately, and I knew I’d willingly and excitedly be there all night if that’s how long it took to help this customer.
I come from a family of big people. I am definitely the smallest most of the time. My mother was almost always on a diet of some sort. I saw firsthand the challenges of being big. The seemingly insignificant things smaller people take for granted can be significant milestones for bigger people. My mother told me one of the happiest days of her life was when she went to cross her legs and one knee was positioned over the other. She had never been able to entirely cross her legs, always resting her ankle on her other knee because of the girth of her quads. Who knew such a small thing could make someone so happy?
The customer left with a smile and a brightly colored, new-smelling box full of what I hope are promises of many happy miles on a continued journey to health, wellness, and strength. And as I turned the lights off and locked the door, I realized that my small part in this journey reminded me of so many things: Don’t judge people or where they are in their journey. Meet them where they are. And in that way, the customer gave me much more that evening than I received from selling a pair of shoes. And that…was worth all the time in the world.
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