It was a busy afternoon at the Apple store when I approached the two associates standing at the entrance. Both ladies were wearing the current uniform, a t-shirt sporting the white logo of an apple with a bite taken out of it.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I was in here earlier because I needed to buy a charging cord for my Macbook Air and it occurred to me as I was running errands that perhaps you do recycling. Can you recycle the cord?”
“Wait a minute,” one said. “You bought a new power cord? When did you buy your computer?”
“I’ve had it for a few years. And my charging unit died,” I said.
“Oh, Okay,” the second gal said. “Yes, we can recycle it for you.”
I pulled the defective power adapter and cord out of the little travel pouch I have for it. It didn’t actually look like trash as it was neatly wound up and secured with a rubber band. I had originally brought it with me to the mall to make sure that I bought the correct charger and had belatedly thought about what to do with it now that I had its replacement.
The first young woman extended her hands and I deposited it in them.
“We will gently lay it in the ground,” she said with reverence. Then she broke into a grin and said, “Just kidding. No worries. We can recycle it for you.”
I thanked them both and wished them a great rest of the day. It was a fun interaction and as I swung out into the mall with a jaunty step I had a thought, Wait a minute. I did buy the extended warranty, Applecare. Maybe it is still under warranty. I don’t think so but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
I reversed course and headed back to the store. One of the ladies was still on post at the entrance.
“Hi again.” I said. “You know, you two got me thinking. I did purchase the extended warranty when I bought the computer. Could it have been covered? Do you think you could look it up for me?”
“Really! You bought the Applecare? Let me call my associate.” She activated her headset. “Rachel, can you hear me? Rachel?” When Rachel didn’t immediately respond the associate led me toward the back and we found Rachel as she was coming out after depositing my old power cord.
“Rachel, she bought the Applecare!”
“You did?” She said brightly.
“Yes,” I said. “You two got me thinking that perhaps it could still be under warranty. Could you check for me since I just bought this?”
They grinned at each other. “You know, we were talking about you after you left. You were so nice! Usually people come in and they’re complaining, ‘This broke and you should give me a new one!’ but their computer is 5 years old. But you were so nice to us – we don’t care if it is under warranty or not, we’re giving you the new one – we can do that!”
Within a few minutes I received a refund for my purchase and walked out with my new $84 replacement computer charger. While it was unexpected and appreciated to receive the complimentary item, it felt even better to know that I hadn’t been doing anything special to be “nice.” By just being myself and truly being with them, I had been remarkable to these ladies. It was a sweet reconfirmation that each moment counts. I hadn’t been getting my errands done so that I could get on to the “important” things. Instead, they were the center of my universe in the moment that I was being with them and they felt appreciated.
Each moment is important. And attitude matters.
By Ariel — © 1996 – 2026 www.transformationmadeeasy.com. Click to subscribe to our newsletter and blog.
This is so inspiring and reminds me of a recent interaction I had when my husband, Laurence and I were looking for a new bed and mattress. We had so much fun with our wonderful customer care advisor who really did take care of us. When we came to the purchase, he gave us a large discretionary discount. It looks like he had fun too.