The woman looked at Isaac (he was watching a church service on his device) and asked if he liked working at Cup of Joe. He said yes. She talked to him about how she likes that business and what a comfortable feeling it is to spend time there. I told her that he works upstairs in the bakery. She asked Isaac if he liked baking. He said yes. She said her dad bakes a lot, but she didn't get the baking gene. She wished us well when we were done.
We exited the building. Isaac reached for my hand as we walked through the parking lot. I was teary. This person did everything right: she called Isaac by name, asked him appropriate questions, took interest in his life, listened to his responses, and treated him like any other customer.
This happens at other places, too, but for some reason today it hit differently. She made such a genuine effort to include him.
Isn't this what we all want in this great big world? We all want to be seen. We want to be heard. We need to know we matter.