Quotidian Civility

To many they may appear as featureless
automatons. Not to me, I know them.
They are now in their grandmotherly
years and they have served me well over
the years. Their faces are well known to
me and so are their personalities. To a
woman, helpful, kind and personable so
I value seeing them each and every week
when I shop for my groceries and they are
there, faithful employees, doing work that
many may regard as unskilled and menial.
This is not how I regard them and for
obvious reasons. They embody traits that
can only elicit respect; their efficiency
and management skills, their helpfulness
and good cheer that much younger cohorts
would do well to emulate. Who wouldn't
prefer the sour, resentful grimace of the
young engaged in a type of employment
the service industry itself holds in little
regard take a lesson from their older
counterparts at the cash register? It is
in recognition of their skills and patience
their genuine smiles and familiarity 
fielding personal questions that I value
them as I hope they do me not as a client
but a fellow human for whom the daily
necessities of courtesy and empathy
represents the bedrock of social contract.