Last week my wife and I went into our favorite independent bookstore, Books on the Square, in Providence. We found our book quickly and went to the counter to pay for it.
There was a little girl, probably about 8 years old, standing there with her desired purchase in her hand. She handed it to the friendly clerk and he rang it up.
“That book will cost you just $6.49,” he said.
Her face froze and her eyes became like deer in a headlight.
“I only have six dollars,” she said in a soft, frightened voice.
“Oh, wait a minute,” the clerk said. “I made a mistake. You see, we have a policy here that college students get a 10% discount. I can tell from looking at you that you plan on going to college. Am I right? Do you plan to go to college some day?”
The little girl nodded her head and quietly said, “Yes.”
“Oh, that’s great. Because since you plan to be a college student some day, you are eligible for the 10% discount. That means that your book will only cost you $5.40. Well, look at that! You even get some change back.”
She handed him the $6.00 and he handed her back sixty cents. She beamed.
With her book secured in a bag and a bookstore bookmark she almost skipped out of the bookstore.
My wife and I were so impressed with the clerk. He not only sold a book…he inspired a little girl who won’t forget that incident.
Neither will we. Impressive.
