For the first time in a while I got to work with Dancer. Now for those of you that don’t know or remember who Dancer is, Dancer is one of the owners of the store and this guy makes me laugh. He’s one of the very few people I know that can balance being a friend, being a husband, and managing a store while entertaining the public. I swear this guy brightens my day when he walks in. When he is working I know that I will get spontaneous times when he will bust out singing or dancing. For me just seeing him do that makes me smile and brightens my mood. He also reminds me of another person I admire very much. To me they are very similar and it’s nice to have that feeling of comfort. 

So the day is a longer one. The store opens just before noon and I go through the usual routine of opening the store. There are only three of us when we open and for the first few hours we are pretty slow. Dancer comes in earlier to help us in case we get a rush. Now I can say that the day went by pretty well and yes business was slow but only for a few hours and once the sun started to go down it picked up just enough that we got to pass the time quickly. 

Once it had quieted down we had a chance to talk to one another. I’m not sure where it came from or what I did to start it but he starts with....

"I don’t know how you got here, or how you heard about us, or what happened but I wanted you to know that we appreciate you being here. That your still here...." 

Of course my thoughts jump around for a second. I think my fight or flight response kicked in so I responded seriously but also with a slight edge of sarcasm

"You’re not firing me or something are you?"

Now that is not the usual response people give but, I have been let go a few times and I honestly am always thinking it somewhere in the back of my mind. I’m always afraid of someone just shouting out "YOU’RE FIRED" and not having any explanation. I remember him scoffing a little. 

"What no"

My insides became calmed a little. Thank god. He then tells me that he just wanted to thank me. 

I don’t usually get thanked for all the work I do. It’s not heard of in a lot of places and so hearing it from the owner of the store is like a blessing from God himself. It was so nice to hear and honestly I was not expecting it at all. I was just helping him out and I honestly love working for them. Everyone is wonderful and the atmosphere makes me comfortable. It’s a great place to be while I get everything ready for the next chapter in my life. 

More people should be like him. Thanking your employees isn’t hard and really does make a difference to the people working for you. I know that just hearing that made me appreciate working there more and I know when I look back on the thoughts of this place that I will remember them as good ones.