Member-only story
A Witness to Life’s Cycles
The unexpected gift of working in small, independent retail in a rural community
I’ve lived in the same small town for most of the last 17 years; seven of those were spent working in a small independent natural food store. What set that store apart, aside from its great selection of natural products which served as an oasis amid several rural counties in northeast New Mexico, was the exceptional customer service and sense of it being a place of community. People didn’t just come to shop — they came to connect with others, to be heard, to feel seen, to have a reliably friendly interaction, and sometimes to get advice and support around their health and personal struggles. While working retail and being a salesperson was never my intended career path, this personal connection was what made the job worthwhile and I was quite happy to serve my community in this way.
Over time, I came to know, appreciate, and even love our regulars — including the challenging ones — for they were an integral part of the overall tapestry of the community and invited me to grow and become more compassionate and understanding. I could address more than 60% of the customers by first name. Many of them I knew well enough to ask about their lives, follow up on how a product was serving them, hear about how their mom was doing . . . At times this…
