It costs nothing

Sometimes, when I take my son to his favorite coffee shop for a hot chocolate, the experience is great.

The staff are welcoming. They smile at him when he says “hot chocolate”. They tell him “Good job!” when he holds my card and taps it to pay. They put a little espresso cup on our tray so I can decant a bit at a time for him.

Good experience.

Other times, there’s a miserable guy working there. Stone-faced when my son says “hot chocolate”. He seems put out that we’re slowing him down as my son learns how paying for things works. Makes no effort.

Bad experience.

My two-year old son is learning the world. He’ll have been looking forward to that hot chocolate all day.

A smile costs nothing.

A good attitude costs nothing.

Celebrating others costs nothing.

And yet, combined, they are priceless.