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Posts Tagged ‘grocery stores’

Day 20 – Curran

Posted in Something for others, tagged , , , , , , on January 18, 2011| 9 Comments »

Kindness Investor: Petra from Seattle, WA

Curran made me so happy. After we’d chatted and I gave him $10 I couldn’t help but tell one of his co-workers in the grocery store, that he made me so happy (even though poor Elle had no idea what was going on).

I’d paid for my modest purchase and couldn’t resist. I walked over to the register where Curran was now helping other customers and gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You have made me so happy!  Thank you.”

Frankly, I don’t think I actually embarrassed him – although I may have. Curran instantly understood what being a Kindness Investor is all about. So, I think he just took my public demonstration of gratitude in stride and smiled, and went back to work. However, my bet is that his smile – both inside and out –has remained with him as long as mine has with me.

Curran is an associate at Trader Joe’s Grocery. Although I had $10 in my pocket, ready to give to someone, I didn’t expect it to be an employee where I was buying my food. But there he was. He just walked up to me. It was kismet.  After briefly explaining the project and extending $10 to him, he was quick to grasp the concept.

“That’s really cool! It’s like paying it forward,” he stated matter-of-factly. I couldn’t help but think I was actually trying to catch-up, karmically. The past few years have been very difficult for me but my own family and friends Kindness Investors have helped me through so many of the extremely rough patches.

Curran grew up in the Portland, Oregon area and moved to Seattle about seven years ago; he’s now 28. He’s been a crew member of this store since it opened two years ago. One thing I know after today’s encounter, if I were in need of any kind of crew member, I’d want it to be someone like Curran.

“I got engaged on December 22nd,” he proudly announced. “We are hoping for a November wedding in Hawaii. We want a small ceremony and it’s really exciting.”

He and his fiancé have a three-year-old girl named Hayden (OMG, I can only imagine how lovely they both are). “It’s an amazing feeling.”

“What is?” I inquired.

“Settling down. Everything. All things are just lining up. I must’ve done something right.” He was beaming. Proud. Excited. Grounded.

Although he has no pets (you know I had to ask!), he loves dogs and hopes to add one to their family when they can.

As far as what he plans to do with the $10? He didn’t miss a beat when I asked. “I think I’m going to buy bouquets of flowers to keep the random act of kindness going. Won’t that be cool to make people smile with a beautiful arrangement of flowers? I’ll just hand them to people like you gave this $10 to me.”

Earlier when I was taking Curran’s picture, Elle had stopped by to get the string of beads which he had been wearing. Evidently the person donning the au natural necklace indicates to customers that s/he is available to assist and answer questions. Later when I ran into Elle said that Curran had briefly told her about our exchange and the money.

“I wonder what he’s going to do with it?” she asked.

“I don’t know…I guess you’ll have to wait and see,” I replied with a smile.

Who would think that three minutes and $10 with Curran (or any of those with whom I’ve spent time as a Kindness Investor) would make me so very happy?

Oh, I mentioned that, didn’t I?

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Day 206 – Joe M.

Posted in Gave the money to someone else, tagged , , , , , , , on July 20, 2010| 6 Comments »

DC Trader Joe's at 1101 25th Street, NW (photo: Reed)

Joe has been working for Trader Joe’s for six years.  He started in Michigan and was then transferred to Rockville before finally accepting a move to the downtown Washington, DC location.  “I do all the signage you see around here,” he explains.  I did a bit of a panoramic scan of the store and realized that every sign whether it be for apples or for frozen entres of chicken masala. 

A former NYC resident, Joe started out as a graphic designer.  When he moved to Michigan he realized that he could apply his background as a graphic designer to be an in-store artist for the privately held Californian grocer.  It was odd to call them Californian, because you feel like you are in your neighborhood store.  Maybe it’s the hand written signs or the goofy Hawaiian shirts.  By the way, I am all for fun shirts, but I think it might be time to change the shirts.  Or maybe it’s just how everyone seems happy there!  

When the 36-year-old artist isn’t working, he enjoys biking, painting, and sports.  He was following the World Cup when we met and was pulling for the Netherlands after his favorite team, Italy, was disqualified. 

Taken at a Trader Joe's in San Luis Obispo, CA. (photo Shawn Thorpe)

“I’ll probably give the $10 to a homeless person.  I see some regularly not too far from here,” he says.  “Or maybe I will give it to the guy who sells the homeless newspaper (Street Sense) in front of the store.”   I didn’t see anyone outside the day I was there. 

I wanted to take a photo of Joe or some of his art work but he preferred not to be photographed and advised me of their policy that forbids photographs to be taken inside the store.  I always try to respect people’s privacy. 

By the way, if you are wondering if Joe is the “Trader Joe.”  He’s not…that would be the founder Joe Coulombe who turns 80 this year.   Coincidentally he says that his wife worked for a company that had the same name as her first name….I don’t remember exactly, but it was like her name was Anne and she worked for Anne Klein.

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Day 142 – Angie M.

Posted in Food & Beverage, Gave the money to someone else, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 10, 2010| 6 Comments »

This blog entry was supposed to be posted yesterday.  It was Mother’s Day and I was just not motivated to do much.  Sorry.  Happy belated Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

I have been dog-sitting for a few days, so I got up yesterday around 7am and took my new best friend Ruben for a walk.   Meandering around Washington early in the morning was so peaceful.  There was very little traffic and I had some time to reflect on my Mom.  I wish that I could put into words how much I miss her.  I know that she would have loved  the Year of Giving.

After a long walk, I grabbed a copy of El Tiempo Latino newspaper and made our way over to Dupont Circle.  I played with Ruben in the shaded grass for a while and then we found a sunny bench to relax on.  I read through the paper and Ruben slipped in and out of a slumber.

Photo: Reed

Last Wednesday I had an opportunity to participate in the Gala Celebration of the re-opening of the Safeway grocery store located at 1855 Wisconsin Avenue.  My friend Patricia works for Dufour and Company, one of the nation’s most respected event management firms that was hired to make the Gala a spectacular experience.  She invited me to help with the reopening.  It was incredible.  I have never seen a grocery store turn into such an elegant locale.  Props to the Dufour team!

Photo: Reed

This Safeway is amazing too!  The produce section was flawless, every pepper and bean was in it’s place.  I could go into detail about how phenomenal this grocery store is, but check out Bonnie Benwick’s write-up in the Washington Post.

While I was there, I met Angie who was also there helping out with the event.  She is a 26-year-old District of Columbia resident who, like me, is currently unemployed.  She has a background in nonprofits and marketing.  I really liked Angie’s answer when I asked her what she wanted to do professionaly.  “I recently did my 10 year plan.  During the next 10 years I want to start my own marketing firm that focuses on the needs of nonprofits, schools, and small businesses.”

Angie (Photo: Reed)

I asked Angie to tell me a little about herself and she said, “I love traveling, laughing, and great ideas.  And I love cheese…Gouda and other soft cheeses!”  We talked about some of her favorite places she has visited.  “I really like San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The people are so welcoming.”  She went on to say, “I love that you can get a delicious meal, a drink, and dessert for $12 there!”

She came to Washington five years ago and enjoys every minute of living here.  “There is so much to do in DC.  There isn’t a monotonous culture here like some places.”

In response to my question about what she would do about with the $10, Angie said, “Well, I’m a pedestrian.  There are a lot of times that I haven’t had enough money to go from point A to point B.  So, I am going to keep the money until I find someone who needs help getting someplace.”

Angie allowed me to take speak with her on camera for a few minutes.  She talks about the most influential person in her life; her mother.  As I said earlier, this was supposed to be posted yesterday.  It would have been a perfect tribute to Mother’s Day.  Angie also talks about Rwanda, where she was born, and how the genocide there has affected her life.

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Day 94 – Rob W.

Posted in Something for themself, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2010| 3 Comments »

Unfortunately my cousin Ricky passed away on March 12th.  He had a heart attack on Wednesday and later died on Friday.  Although I had not seen Ricky in a long time, I did see his mother (my aunt) much more often.  You never prepare yourself fully to lose a child.  

Welcome to Kroger's!

I traveled to Roanoke, VA on Thursday to be with my family.  While I was there I found myself at the Tanglewood Kroger on the Southwest edge of the city. 

As I walked through the grocery store I found Rob deep in concentration as he studied the Bomb Pops.  I thought I would introduce myself. 

Like me, Rob is unemployed right now.  He was working as a financial specialist for the hospital in Roanoke up until being laid off last August.  Although he would like to find work, he has used his time off to focus on his passion for making music.  He is a one-man recording artist making experimental home-made music.  He goes by the name Sad Wilson and you can hear a sample of his music here.  I listened to a bunch of the songs.  Most of them have heavy tones of melancholy (hence Sad Wilson).  Rob integrates different media into the songs…for example recordings of conversations or telephone operator recordings on top of guitar melodies.  There was something Neil Youngish about Junk Stomp Brain and Pretty Corpse.  All in all not my preferred style, however, I think the experimental approach he has taken is cool and the fact that he does it all himself is amazing. 

Rob with his $10 and favorite Popsicles (Photo: Reed)

I got out my camera to take some pictures…I got a little worried that the Kroger people might come over and ask me to leave or put my camera away.  Jokingly I said to Rob, “They might get upset unless you know somebody that works here.”  He said, well, my grandfather used to be the CEO of Kroger.”  I was like, “really.”  He just looked at me and nodded “yup.”  So…I took some photos! 

Rob plans on using my ten-spot to buy some blank CDs to burn some of his music.  I have a feeling if there is anything left over it will get used for Bomb Pops.  Never met anyone with such an affinity for them! 

Around this time Rob’s friend came by.  I think this was his girlfriend or wife…and I believe her name was Ashley…but I could be wrong.  My note-taking is pretty poor.  Sorry!  They both told me how bad the economy was in Roanoke.  And let me tell you, it looks way more depressed there than in

Rob and Ashley (Photo: Reed)

DC.  Next door to the Kroger is the Tanglewood Mall.  Ashley said, “Yeah,it’s pretty bad…you can find that mall on deadmalls.com!” I checked…she was right.  I also went to the mall…and it aptly listed on the website.  “There’s just a lot of empty buildings around town” she added. 

Although it is sad to see this, it is important to see it.  I think Washington is a little recession proof because of all the government related jobs.  This town needs some life pumped into it.  

I asked the two what they would recommend for someone to see in Roanoke.  They looked at each other, shrugged, and said, “I don’t know….maybe the Star?”  They are referring to the Mill Mountain Star, built in 1949 at the top of Mill Mountain.  It is the world’s largest freestanding illuminated man-made star. (There is a bigger one in El Paso, TX, but it isn’t illuminated)  I had actually seen it before…my cousin Martha got married last Fourth of July at a winery in Roanoke that overlooked the Star.  It was a great view and the Star is pretty at night.   

“Other than that…maybe the Taubman Museum…but it’s weird.  It looks like a space ship” they told me.  The Taubman  apparently has permanent and temporary exhibits and focuses mostly on 19th/20th century American art, modern and contemporary art, new media, photography, and visionary art.  I didn’t have time to visit it this time. 

Give Rob’s music a listen.  It’s good to have artists who are pushing the envelope. 

Today’s blog is dedicated to the memory of my cousin Richard “Ricky” C. Huels, Jr.  (Nov. 27, 1959 – March 12, 2010)

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