A woman was having such a bad day that she couldn’t help yelling at an old man while at the post office. She was irritated with him until she saw something that reminded her of her father.
Brenda was having such a bad day, and it all started in the morning. Before leaving for work, she quarreled with her husband, beginning her foul mood.
While driving, she argued with another driver as they both rolled down their windows and exchanged words. As if that wasn’t enough to ruin her morning just yet, when she arrived to work at the post office, another surprise awaited her – she was reprimanded by the head of her department.
“That wasn’t even my fault,” she mumbled to herself as she sat to entertain customers. Everyone she encountered that day seemed slow, and it gave her a headache. She had already taken medicine, but it wasn’t helping her.
Brenda couldn’t wait for the day to end. However, as she was about to close up the post office, she saw an older man entering the doors with a package in his hands.
She checked the clock and it was only five minutes until closing time. She was more than ready to go home, so she decided not to entertain the old man. “We’re already closed. Come back on Monday,” she told him.
The old man refused to leave and said he urgently needed to send a package. “Please, ma’am. I need to send this. I walked 4 miles in the rain to get here,” he cried.
Brenda sighed. She agreed to arrange the shipment for him, and she handed him the forms to fill out. As the man wrote, Brenda noticed his hands shaking and his writing was becoming illegible.
Brenda stared at the clock while the old man tried his best to write clearly. She was worried she would be late to pick her child up from school, so she decided to give her husband a call.
While the old man was busy with the papers, Brenda stepped outside. “Can you please pick Ava up from school today? I’m running late as a customer came in at the last minute,” she told her husband.
The old man wasn’t lying – it was raining, and Brenda was shivering from the cold. As she waited for her husband to agree, the old man came up to her and unbuttoned his overworn coat. He took it off and offered it to her.
“It’s cold. Come back inside the post office or use my coat to warm you while you’re out,” he said kindly.
Brenda looked at the man and saw that underneath the coat, he only had a thin V-neck shirt on. Then she noticed he had a pacemaker – a device that regulates a person’s heartbeat – visible underneath his skin in his chest area. It was the same that her late father used to have, too.
Seeing the pacemaker softened Brenda’s heart, as she was a daddy’s girl and missed her dad dearly. She realized she had been rude to somebody who was her father’s age, and it was as if she was disrespecting her father.
Then the old man began to speak again. “I understand that you are angry with me. I’m sorry for coming into the post office so late. I could not hail a cab because of the rain, so I had to walk. These knees aren’t strong anymore, so I couldn’t make it here quicker,” he apologized. “I will send the package on Monday. Please, go home to your family.”
Brenda looked at the old man with sympathy. She realized she had taken out all of her anger on him, even though he did not deserve it. “Don’t worry, sir. I’ve already asked my husband to pick up my daughter from school. What is your name? Come, let’s process your package,” she said.
“Thank you, dear. My name is William,” the old man replied as they walked inside the post office together.
Brenda was determined to help the old man with his gift. | Source: Pexels
When they got to the counter, Brenda asked what was inside the box and William smiled. “My daughter turns 50 tomorrow. I wanted to get her something special because it’s difficult for me to commute to visit her. I saved up for it, and I’m worried it won’t arrive on time,” he shared.
Brenda knew that it was already too late for the package to arrive the next day. They had already sent out next-day shipments, and William’s gift would be delivered in two days.
She checked the recipient address that William had written down. It was two hours away.
“I hate to break it to you, sir, but this package would arrive late if we process it here. We’ve already sent out our next-day delivery packages. This would arrive on Sunday,” Brenda told him. William’s face formed a frown, and he sighed in defeat.
Brenda started to pack up, handing the box back to William. She got her bag and asked her colleague to lock up the post office. “Come with me,” she told him.
They walked towards her car, and she asked William to hop in. “Where are we going?” he asked her.
“We’re going to your daughter’s house to celebrate this milestone birthday with her in person,” Brenda said with a smile.
They drove two hours to get to the lady’s house, and Brenda couldn’t help but tear up when she saw the happy daughter reunited with her dad.
There was a feast for Brenda and William to enjoy that night. The man’s daughter celebrated her birthday early, and it was the happiest day for Brenda, William, and his daughter.
What can we learn from this story?
Be kind to those you meet because they may be fighting battles you don’t know about. Brenda believed everything wasn’t going her way, affecting how she interacted with other people. After encountering William, she realized she had been taking her anger out on everyone, even though they too had their own battles.
Even bad days can turn better if you allow them to. Brenda simply wanted her lousy day to end until she realized it was still possible to make it better.
Share this story with your loved ones. It might inspire them and make their day
