New Places; New Faces

In a former life I've worked a great deal with customers, mostly as a waitress but I've put in some time as a barista as well. Not surprisingly, everywhere I've worked there have been regulars - the ones who come in so frequently that not only do we know their name, but their favorite order and most likely, some details about their lives too. Just recently I've discovered that while I may have enjoyed serving my "regulars", to some of them I may have been about the only "regular" they knew at the time.

We recently were lucky to greet Leif's mom and friend as they visited us in our new town. We were more than thrilled to see them, and mostly because of who they are in our lives. But there was the very tiny part of that thrill that was due simply to seeing people we knew. It's hard to describe the sheer pleasure of seeing familiar faces in a town where the people we know best are the post office clerks, the librarians, Joshua's preschool teachers, and a couple clerks at Safeway and Trader Joe's and our local bakery. I never realized that it's these people who tend to the be the initial greeters of newcomers in a town...and I wonder if they themselves realize it.

We have a post office box, and for the first several weeks I had to wait in line to inquire after any of our mail in the "general delivery" pile. The clerks stopped asking for ID since I came in so frequently. Most were quite courteous, but one still refuses to crack a smile. I wonder if he knows that he's one of about 7 people I recognize in this town, and as much of a sourpuss that he is, I'm still glad to see him simply because he's familiar? I know his mannerism has nothing to do with me personally, but it makes me think back to my days of waitressing and making coffee drinks for customers who don't even get two minutes of my time...and I wonder, was I ever that familiar face for someone new in town? And was I friendly enough? When I was a teacher, an inspirational phrase was well known: To the world you might just be one person...but to one person, you may just be the world. It makes obvious sense in the world of teachers and children, but I have realized that it still applies to this child right here. One who will someday not be the new face in town, but may be the greeter to someone else; and I hope I remember what it was like on this side, so that it helps me to better reach out to that new person and be one of their very few familiar faces...smiling to welcome them.