Mike Dougherty's Blog

Maybe I spoke too soon …

I wrote a column published in Thursday’s North Little Rock Times and Sherwood Voice that expressed my frustration with rude shoppers encountered during the Christmas season. It was based on an outing to Park Plaza in Little Rock on Dec. 18.

Then I finished up my shopping Wednesday night by picking up a couple of things at Barnes & Noble Booksellers for my brother, Pat, and a couple of stocking stuffers for my wife, Nancy.

Wouldn’t you know it? I couldn’t have had a better time!

I wandered around amongst the frantic shoppers, knowing that I was done. I purchased the three items I needed and then held the door open for a young lady who was leaving the store at the same time. In return, she tried to hold the door from the entryway to the outside open for me, but didn’t quite hold it long enough.

We laughed about it, and had a pleasant conversation over our respective shoulders as we went our separate ways in the parking lot. By the time I reached my car, I realized that it had taken just that one enjoyable exchange with a stranger to put me in a much better frame of mind about the Christmas shopping experience.

Granted, it may have been that:

A. Officially I was finished shopping for the season;

B. I had been spending time in a book store, which usually calms me;

C. The brush with niceness really did cheer me; or

D. All of the above.

Whatever the answer, I was feeling better about my fellow human beings. And despite my reputation as an occasional grump, that had to be a good thing.