A Trip to the Bank Ends in a Touching Experience

I went to the bank to open a new account for my Avon business. As I walked into the bank, the first representative who I saw was on the telephone and not looking very happy at all. His voice was low and he was trying to keep his voice quiet as he expressed his frustration to the person on the other end of the phone. I moved on. At the next desk, a woman was speaking loudly into the telephone; she appeared to be with another customer. She was also not very happy.

As I looked around, I didn’t see a place where I could sign in and wait my turn, so I finally walked all the way to the back of the bank and asked the first non-busy person I could find for help. She smiled, got up and walked me all the way back to the first desk with the gentleman still on the phone, still frustrated. They made eye contact, there was a quiet hand signal, and I heard him tell his caller that he would have to call him back. He hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and turned to greet me.

I could tell that his nerves were on edge, and he was trying to rapidly pull himself together so that he could be of help to me. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “That’s okay,” I answered, “it happens. I can tell you were frustrated. Would you like me to give you a minute?” “No,” he smiled, turning his full attention to me, “I can tell you are a nice person, and I’m really glad you sat down here. We’re going to have a very different experience than the one I just left.” I looked at his name tag — JOSH, it said, in bold letters.

As we began to speak, the woman on the other side of the partition began to speak louder. Josh started to speak, and then stopped to wait for a pause. As he began again, the volume on the other side rose again. He stood up and quietly looked over the partition. The raised voice continued, and Josh sighed and sat down again. He looked at me apologetically and said, “she just finished yelling at me, too.” “It sounds like you’re really have a bad day,” I said, feeling very sympathetic. “I really hope it gets better!”

I explained what I was looking for, and we discussed a few different options. After agreeing on a course of action, he mentioned that he would also give me two movie tickets, and recommended the latest “Horton Hears a Who” movie, which he had recently seen. He left me to sign several checks while he checked some paperwork. When he returned, he entered my information, creating my account, and was very careful to add “Avon Acct” so that I could distinguish this new one from my regular account. He asked me what products I sold, and I mentioned that Avon sells a variety of products, including skin care, makeup, jewelry, and toys and other items for children. He suggested that I give him a book, as he was married, and his wife may want a few things.

When I mentioned that the latest catalog had several Mother’s Day gift ideas, he was quiet for a minute. He smiled and shared that he had recently lost his grandmother, and their Mother’s Day tradition was to go out to a nice restaurant together. He was going to miss it this year. We talked a bit more, and I learned that he had a small daughter with Cerebral Palsy; I could see how much he loves her.

“You’re a really nice person,” he said again. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that you sat here at my desk after that last phone call.”

He got up to make sure that my checks were deposited correctly. In the meantime, I returned to my car to pick up the brochure I had promised. But I also wanted to do something special for Josh to help him through his day. So I picked up one of the boxes in my Avon bag and brought it in with me.

When Josh came back with my receipt, I gave him two brochures — one to keep and one to give away, as well as a few business cards. “More importantly,” I said, “I really want to give you something, because I think we really made a connection.” He agreed. I handed him the bracelet — blue, with a small infinity symbol on it. Just a small trinket, really. “This is Avon’s Women’s Empowerment bracelet. It’s a fundraising item, which you can read about on this small card. But I want you to wear it, and think about your grandmother, your wife, and your little girl whenever you look at it. And when you call the previous customer back, as you invariably will have to, just touch the bracelet when you begin to get frustrated, and know that it will all get better.”

My voice caught when I mentioned his loved ones, and I could see that he was touched, too. He asked if he could give me a hug, and told me again how glad he was that we had met.

“God Bless You,” he said quietly as I got up to leave. I knew he already had.