Everything is Awesome

Yesterday I went to Dairy Queen for lunch with a friend of mine. It was a spur of the moment decision as we both just needed to get out of the office and away from the tedious tasks that ate up our morning.

There was an older couple in line in front of us. A couple who were not entirely familiar with the menu. Now typically at Dairy Queen, the staff is less than excited to be there and the fact that you want to give them your money in exchange for their food seems to piss them off. So I worried a little for the transaction about to go down.

The server was a tiny, early-middle-aged phillipino woman with enough of an accent that you could hear it but not enough of one that you couldn't understand it. And she? Was bubbly. Like, spinny-happy-the-world-is-awesome-because-we-are-all-alive bubbly. And she treated those two elderly people like they were the only people in her world AT THAT MOMENT. She was patient, she was funny, she was helpful, she was BUBBLY. My pal and I looked at each other and after the initial eye-roll for the ridiculousness that was her perkiness, we began to laugh. And not a mean laugh either!

The woman virtually skipped around the kitchen, grabbing the drinks, thanking the person who had waited so patiently in the drive thru line with such gusto that they probably forgot where they were and figured they were in Disneyland or some other place where everyone who works there is perpetually happy. Gone was our irritation, our thoughts of "who the fuck is really that happy? I mean, come ON! She's humming!". Our sour puss attitude was fast replaced with an emergency get-happy-quick plan that involved immediate contact with one another if we were getting work doldrums and a trip to that specific DQ on the asap to rememedy them. Either that or we were going to see if she would just walk around our office once or twice a week to cheer everyone up and remind them to be happy.

She bopped as she took orders. She was happy to serve you. She made her day fun. And it seemed real. It wasn't an act. But the best part, the part that induced the most giggles? When I went up to get my blizzard. She made it herself and looked so pleased with herself after removing the silver cup collar thingy that even I could see her beaming. She walked over to me and said, "Wow! I even got the crown on there!" Because all of the ice cream swept upwards at the rim of the cup and because the name of the joint involves royalty. She thought this feat, this accomplishment was pretty darn spectacular. But that's not the best part. The best part? Was when she handed it to me. The moment she let go of her work of art and entrusted it to me she said, "Crispy Crunch Blizzard! AWE-SOME!!".

I couldn't help but laugh. "Awesome!" I replied. Sometimes people are just plain happy. And why the hell not. Let them be happy. Its actually quite contagious.