old ladies, ice cream, & hit songs

a couple days ago, a sweet older lady in her 70's came, alone, into the ice cream shop that I work at.  She asked for a single scoop cup of our pralines and cream.  I scooped it, and handed it to her.

this is not the same lady.  I found this on google.
photo credit: emmasgoods.wordpress.com

you could see that she had really been looking forward to this, and her face lit up.  She said that this ice cream is the best around, and this was her favorite flavor.  (she made sure to tell me that she had recommended it to all of her friends)

I rang her up at the cash register, and told her the total.
"that will be $3.17"
"Oh!" she said in a surprised tone "I don't remember it being that much.  But I know it's worth it, and I'll be the last one to complain!"  She said optimistically.  "You know, one day, I'm gonna have that hit song, and I'll be able to buy a lot of ice cream!"

this sweet lady in her 70's still had the hope of writing that "one song" that will make it big, and will take care of her financially.

this is the hope of nashville.

but that's not the end of the story.

she opens her firmly gripped fist, and lets out several coins onto the counter

counting out the three dollars and seventeen cents in dimes & nickels, checking it twice to make sure she was going to pay every cent.

with all of the change she had in her fist, it amounted to $3.15.

two cents short of the total.

I told her not to worry about the two cents, that it was taken care of, and to have a great day.

she looked a little unsettled, and went to sit down at a table where she had left her purse.

a few minutes pass, I go back to the kitchen to make a milkshake, and a coworker takes over the cash register to ring up the line of customers we were serving.

I look over, and see this older lady making her way back up to the cash register to make sure she was paying her last two cents.
"I knew I had these", she said proudly as she hands the remaining two cents to my coworker from digging deep into her purse, just so she felt at peace about paying the full amount.

this is the pride of nashville

it's people like this nameless woman, that make me love this city.  the people are truly great.  this sweet woman has the hopes of a child, and sees that the sky is the limit.

there is always a chance.  have hope, and one day, it just might pay off.