We can choose to be affected by the world or we can choose to affect the world.

Dear business owner of the “Granite Grinder,”

Over the years, my husband, family, and I have driven by your coffee shop, tucked away in a reddish color building decorated with overgrown vines (I’ve often wondered if it was an abandoned gas station that you lovingly rescued from demolition) always a landmark on the miles of quiet country roads between our Minnesota community and South Dakota, home of my extended family. Early February marked our first visit to your shop; I’m not sure why it took us so long (years in fact), but this time, instead of looking longingly at it from the passenger seat (yes, I was driving this time), we pulled in.

This open letter isn’t about rating your product (though the menu was tempting) as we simply ordered hot coffee (and thank you for adding in the free shot of extra espresso in our Americanos), or your service (which was first class). This is a statement about your generosity of spirit, and there is no number of stars in any rating system that could ever convey my gratitude. Instead, I choose to share it with our audience as they often express their appreciation for stories of the genuine kindness (which this short story exemplifies!)

By the way, your shop is adorable, warm, and inviting, with lots of treasures. But the object of my fixation wasn’t the charming atmosphere or your sincere hospitality. It was the two glass jars at the checkout counter.

The one to my left had a handwritten label with “TIPS” written in capital letters. Okay, nothing so unusual there, it’s pretty standard in most coffee shops. It was the jar to my right that got my attention. It also had a handwritten label with some words in uppercase, others in lowercase that read “DONATE for the Food Shelf.”

I figure you must know that as customers, in placing those two jars side by side, we would be making a choice about what to do with our change:

A. be that person who doesn’t tip or donate (ugh!)

B. leave it in the tip jar

C. give it as a donation

D. split funds between a tip and a donation

It’s obvious that option B and D benefit you (and well deserved), but yet, you generous soul, you made a decision to place both those jars on your counter, knowing that your own tip jar would be directly diminished when anyone choose option C or D.

I paid with a $20, you gave me $13.65 in change. I put $2.00 in your tip jar and $1.65 in the donation jar. You thanked me and shared that sometimes when staff from the food shelf come in for the donations, there isn’t any money in it. On those days, you put your tips in there so that there is something to give them. You said it’s for a good cause and it’s important.

You were right. It is important. I put my remaining $10 in the donate jar.

At that moment we all won. And it felt good.

No act of kindness should ever go unnoticed - albeit a smile, a thank you, a "that meant a lot to me" or in this case an open letter. Just wanted you to know that someone is grateful for the difference you make in the world.

With kindness, Julie

“We can choose to be affected by the world or we can choose to affect the world.” Heidi Wills