His First Tip

I pulled into my favorite filling station on a bright Saturday morning. And when I mean filling station, I mean it: no nachos, chicken strips, energy drinks. Paper maps and windshield wiper blades only.

My filling station’s attendants always clean my windshield. Every time. That’s why this is the only place I buy gas.

A kid was on his first day on the job. All they would let him do (he told me) was clean windows. And he was pumped up beyond belief to being so! He smiled as he worked and we chatted about the people he’d met earlier that morning. He’d met five new folks! He was pumped about that too! He was generally pumped about everything in his life from what I could tell.

The kid had pumped me up with his eagerness! I was feeling it in the car. He finished the window. A little streaky. Okay, he needed practice but he’d be an exert with the squeegee at the end of his shift.

I called him over to the window and handed him a dollar. His first tip! He smiled even wider and thanked me with gusto. I cranked on the classic rock and drove away, well, pumped.