I'd rather scrub a pot with two day old dried-up residue from boiled chicken than go get groceries. In fact, yesterday I did that (as well as any other thing I could find to do) to avoid going to the store. My elbow grease is stronger than my shopping resolve. But I went to Walmart this morning and it wasn't so bad. My Walmart trip was made more pleasant by an employee named Carole. 

I met Carole last weekend while shopping, only I didn't know she was Carole. I just knew she was the lady that helped me find the spicy mayonnaise I was looking for. 

I'd looked in the mayonnaise section and in the ethnic aisle with no luck. She just so happened to be stocking shelves somewhere around the pickles. So I asked her if she knew where I could find it. I can't tell you how many times in different stores I've asked an employee if they know where an item is and they respond with "No", not "Let me help you find it". 

Carole and I looked, but couldn't find the mayo I was searching for. Already an hour into shopping, I quickly gave up. About five minutes later, she found me aisles over in produce with a smile and the jar of the spicy mayonnaise. She waved it in the air; a flag symbolizing the anticipated exodus. I could finally check out. 

Customer service is a big deal for those of us who have looped aisles seven through nine several times looking for flax seed. An employee's pleasant assistance is valued when you've been shopping with your kid and you just want to go home, but you can't find flank steak. 

That's where I saw Carole again, by the meat. I recognized her immediately. Today she assisted me in finding the steak, making it possible for me to try out those Vampire Tacos I got the recipe for yesterday when I was avoiding the supermarket.   After chunking the two packs in the basket I approached her nearby in the frozen section, probably creeping her out at this point. 

 I looked at her name. I reminded her that I was the customer she'd helped find the spicy mayo last Saturday and told her how grateful I was for her help. Even more,  I was thankful for her bright personality and her willingness to go the extra mile making her job about people and not just a paycheck. 

She's not the only helpful employed I've encountered Port Arthur's Walmart on Memorial Boulevard, but I'd say she's been the most remarkable.

 Kindred spirits, those with an aversion to buying groceries, look for Carole. If you see her, know that she'll help you find the Queso fresco or the sheet set you're looking for. Give her a smile and a word of appreciation.

I wish there were a Carole at every store. Maybe your store has one. If you're her manager (sure wish you would see this,) give that woman a day off. But be sure to hang on to her. Shoppers, stores, and the world in general needs more of her. 

In our world of big names, curiously, our true heroes tend to be anonymous. In this life of illusion and quasi-illusion, the person of solid virtues who can be admired for something more substantial than his well-knownness often proves to be the unsung hero: the teacher, the nurse, the mother, the honest cop, the hard worker at lonely, underpaid, unglamorous, unpublicized jobs.

Daniel J Boorstin