Sunday morning. 9:30 am. I’m enjoying my Egg McMuffin in the lobby of the McDonald’s on Broadway. Suddenly, I hear from the counter, “Naw, I don’t mind waitin’. I’ll wait for you forever, honey!” A middle aged man is hunched over the counter, fishing change from his pocket. His skin is leathery and his hair is white, but there is a certain youth to his demeanor. He flashes the cashier a goofy smile, turns around, and begins making his way around the restaurant.

Having worked customer service for the past eight years, I immediately peg him as “that guy.” The “the-liquor-store-doesn’t-open-until-11-on-Sundays-so-I-hang-out-at-one-specific-restaurant-and-make-the-minimum-wage-employees-uncomfortable-for-two-hours” guy. Every Hy-vee I’ve worked at has had a liquored-up regular that made the casual dining area their stomping ground, and in my experience, they are demanding, cheap, and vaguely misogynistic. But what happened next made me eat my words.

He proceeded to walk around the restaurant, and say good morning to every single person. Race, age, or gender didn’t matter. This man was determined to look all of us in the eye, shake our hands, and wish us a pleasant day. I had finished my meal by the time he made his way to my booth, and this man, this total stranger, who was at least 30 years older than me, offered to take my tray. I was already about to get up and throw it away myself, but I was so caught off guard by his kindness and generosity that all I could say was “thank you so much.” Soon after, I gathered my things left for work, telling my new friend to take care, to which he replied “you too, buddy.”

What I took from this experience is two things. First: don’t be too quick to judge someone, especially by appearance alone. I know this is a cliché, but it really took the universe slapping me in the face with the wet noodle of my preconceived notions for it to sink in. Second: I think we can all be a little more like the alcoholic in McDonald’s. Any one of us could have told him to buzz off, but that didn’t matter. This man’s agenda for Sunday morning was to be pleasant and helpful to strangers, and he was going to do that. In 2020, I’m going to stop worrying so much about what other people think, or how they’re going to react to what I say and do. As long as my intentions are pure, they can say what they’re going to say. So, that being said, may I take your tray?