Cups of Kindness
I am a Dunkin Donuts coffee snob. I love it. I order decaf with a shot of sugar free hazelnut and sugar free toasted almond. I don’t drink it for the wake up of the caffeine – I drink it for the taste and the ritual. So, as a creature of habit, I stop at the local DD almost daily. With the advent of “On the Go” ordering from my Dunkin app on my phone, I can pick it up at the drive through or run into the side counter where my order is ready – in and out (and add points and earn reward cups of coffee)! I put in my order when I leave the house, click the button that says I’m ready to pick up, and when I arrive my order is hot and fresh.
Today is Ash Wednesday, so you might be thinking this blog post will be about giving up my coffee for Lent. In my house, while we can choose to give something up for Lent, we more often talk about what we will add to our personal discipline that will help us grow in our relationship with God. Perhaps it is being more regular with reading the Bible or perhaps it is something as simple as taking a lesson from the local DD and incorporating it into daily life.
Truth is, On-the Go ordering at my DD isn’t the quick in and out it should be. Actually, it is jam packed with an under 2 minute lesson with the perfect example of how God wants us to live our lives seeing each person as His precious child – each person. My DD On-the-go ordering doesn’t take more time, but it offers more kindness, more positivity – caffeine or not. Turns out, as the servers at my Dunkin get to know you and your order, they work hard to make you feel special. When I walk in, they greet me by name, “Hi, Jane, Your order is over there!” I get messages on my cups – “Have a great day”, smiley faces or hearts. Amanda is my main message writer. When she is working, I get sentence long messages like “You are the best”. I look forward to my morning coffee for more reasons than one.
I’m still in an out. I shout my own hellos to the servers behind the counter and at the window, grab my ready order and head out the door. In between those 50 steps or so, pleasantries and comments go back and forth with the great folks behind the counter bustling around filling orders, yet finding time for me. Fast, furious and full- my cup and my spirit.
My experiences as an On-the-Goer got me thinking about who we are daily. What is obvious is I don’t have to be an On-the Go in order to see my DD crew’s smiles and kindness. They share that daily with each customer if you take the time to notice them. All too often, we are in our On the Go mode, lost within our schedule and the next thing on our to-do list, and we miss it. We might smile, grunt or say a quick “thanks” without even looking directly at someone. You know it happens all day long. Taking this theme well beyond the hello, our Facebook comments and twitter feeds are full of words that clearly show that our society doesn’t see the individual as clearly as it should. You are ashes and to dust you shall return. We are all the same. The great joy is on the flip side of those ashes, we are seen as precious and irreplaceable to our Heavenly Father just as we are. Each of us.
One day, I didn’t go in and out. I stopped at the counter as I picked up my order. I told Amanda what her messages meant. I told her how important she was to me and all her customers – regulars or not. I explained that she shares sunshine not knowing what anyone who would receive her special cup was facing and how she just may lift someone out of a sad place if even for a moment. I saw her eyes glisten. I told her I meant every word. She and her crew share love and hope and grace through a humble cup of coffee.
Carol McCloud wrote a children’s book called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? The story introduces the concept of each person in the world carrying around their own bucket filled with their own positive feelings. Simply put, we can add to the positive feelings of others by “filling their buckets” by being kind. We can also dip into another’s bucket and remove good feelings by being negative, unsupportive or mean. If your bucket is full, you feel good about yourself. Too much dipping, and you feel badly about yourself. Amanda and her crewmates certainly fill lots of buckets each day.
What if we made it our daily “coffee” – our personal mission - perhaps one of our Lenten disciplines- to say hello to everyone? To really look at them and say hello. To really see each individual. To fill as many buckets as we can each day. To share God’s grace and love in a humble way. To make each person feel special and valued. That’s it. Walk by someone and say hello while slowing and intentionally looking at them instead of the rote “Hi, How are you?” that finishes coming out of your mouth after you have past the person. How about trying genuine hellos and maybe add smiley faces, hearts and messages - not on coffee cups, but in your own way - throughout your day? I can’t imagine the increase in SMILEAGE
