Day 2 Global Exchange for A Wonderful Waitress

Busboys and Poets is my hang out. It's a restaurant, bar, coffee house, bookstore and fair exchange shop. I'm here now having a hot buttered rum and working--free wireless internet access. I come here for hours on end and read, work, eat and visit with friends. BB&Ps is committed to human rights, social justice, the environment, sustainability AND having a good time. People who come here form very close relationships. It's kind of like Facebook in the flesh. You may not know a whole lot about your BB&P friends but there's a shared community.

Mina is just one of the wonderful waitresses here. For some reason I have a special affinity for her. She is a soft spoken Ethiopian woman who always has three cheek kisses for me when we see each other. So for my second gift I'm going to step into the Global Exchange shop here at BB&Ps and buy her a little something for her. Be right back. So I just bought her a little natural beeswax candle and beeswax hand balm.

As soon as she saw me she we exchanged our three cheek kisses. I handed her a little bag and she just beamed. A few minutes later she came over to where I'm sitting to thank me again. So often we take the people who serve us in various capacities for granted. Obviously tips for good, friendly service is what most of us give to show our appreciation. In this case, Mina wasn't my waitress today. And for many of the people who serve us regularly, tips aren't even customary.

I think I'm going to focus a lot of my giving during this challenge on the people who make my life easier and more comfortable because they do the little things that I don't always acknowledge.

Peace and Happy Giving.