I was pushing a cart through Costco today when a man motioned to me from across the aisle. “Excuse me, sir,” he said politely with an Italian accent. “Could I get your help with something?”
“Sure,” I said, curious. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m having trouble figuring this out. You look like you’re smarter than me, maybe you can help,” he said.
“Well, I don’t know about that, “ I said, walking over.
He waved his hand in front of a large display of windshield wipers. “I’m trying to find what I need here. I’ve got this car, an ’05” he said, pointing a finger in the wiper guide at the entry for a Nissan Pathfinder. “What do these letters mean? D and P?”
“Ah,” I said. “These letters are for ‘driver’ and ‘passenger.’ You see, wiper blades are two different sizes, with the driver’s side usually bigger than the passenger side.”
He nodded as I checked the numbers and handed him the correct wiper blades from the shelf.
“Thank you very much,” he said gratefully. “I knew there was a little more to this. The way the prices are I knew there must be two of them. Thank you.”
I laughed. “You’re welcome! Glad I could help.”
As I turned to go I heard him remark with some satisfaction, “See? I could tell you were a smart guy.”
After the kind of week I just had, those words were a gift.