Day 8

I went to Subway this morning at about 745am. I walked in to see the same guy I see whenever I go, at whatever I time I go. I asked if he could make a sandwich this early. He replied with a smile so practiced that it would take you too long to decipher its sincerity,and a thick accent thin enough to understand, "why not?!" I took the opportunity to have a short conversation with this man. I said, "You're here all the time...Is this your franchise?" He replied without really looking up, "No, no I just work here. It's good for the future." I thought about the weight of what he just said and replied, "Well...one day you can have one of these." He stopped for a quick moment to look up and say, with the most sincerity, "Thank you." The weight of those two words was so heavy at that particular moment. I understood his hope for a better life, and the struggle to maintain the life he was currently living.

We continued to talk as he made my sandwich. We talked about my job and he told me that it was good to work hard now, because once you get older...it's too much. He even gave me an extra piece of turkey on my sandwich, and he wanted me to know about it. Trust me, I noticed. I know how sacred the food is in this particular Subway. Sometimes the sandwich looks so sparse, you have to ask for extra everything just so the sandwich looks normal. On this day he made my sandwich with extra care, in fact he was proud of the sandwich he made. It wasn't the typical assembly line sandwich he makes for more than 8 hours of his life on a daily basis. When he was finished with my sandwich he said, "See...I make it beautiful...like you."

My heart was strengthened by the seed of encouragement I may have planted today.