Woodlands woman brightens people's day from an unlikely place

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- When walking into the check out line at the grocery store, most people can attest to being greeted by a tired teenager or perhaps a casual employee. However, when walking into a local Kroger in the self-scan section of the store, many customers immediately feel welcome when a certain sweet, friendly, bespectacled employee named Margaret Bennett greets them warmly with her whimsical, yet sincere and honest disposition.

Many cashiers in grocery stores often fall into the trap of seeing work as a never-ending routine of pressing buttons, asking each customer the same questions, and hearing the torturous beeping sound of items being scanned over and over again. However, to Bennett there is so much more to the job.

“It’s about giving people a reason to leave the store smiling,” she said. “It’s about watching this little corner of the world that I live in get a little better [because] I smiled at someone and told them that they looked beautiful.”

Bennett thinks where she works is prime territory to make or break somebody’s day, inspiring her to be positive and kind to all by giving her customers compliments, telling them funny stories, and even cheering them up when needed. She explained she experiences a wide range of humanity and people from all walks of life.

“You never know what the person across from the register is going through,” Bennett said.

It’s easy for Bennett to relate to these kinds of people because she has walked in many of their shoes.

For almost the entire time up until graduating high school, she was badly teased for everything: from her weight and hair color to her personal beliefs.

“I wish that I had not had such a horrific experience,” said Bennett. “At the same time, it’s given me a passion for reaching out and helping people who are having a bad day or who are at a low point because I know what it’s like to be kicked while your down or betrayed.”

“Those experiences give me both empathy and sympathy for those who are going through that. Now that I am in a position to lift my head and change it or give them a reason to feel a little better, I will always give them the opportunity,” said Bennett.

Bennett admits that her biggest hobby is making people smile and she uses her job as the opportunity to do it.

“[You] maybe won’t turn their day around, but [you] can reassure them and remind them that the world is not all hatred and cruelty and depression. There is so much more to the world than that,” Bennett said.

Being different in this world can be difficult at times. Sometimes, customers do not appreciate her spirited attitude or her sincere compliments and they get upset with her, while others are very accepting and gracious.

“The right thing isn’t always the easy thing, but it’s the right thing,” Bennett said. “You just might save a life, save the world, or change [the world] in an immense way. Sometimes the littlest things give someone the reason to believe again.”

In addition, some of her costumers are some of her favorite people in the world. One of her favorites is an older gentleman, who is very kind yet acts very gruff and commits random acts of kindness.

“He does the right thing and it’s really nice to see,” Bennett said.

Friends are also a big part of her life as well as her co-workers and they encourage her to continue being the positive person that she is.

“So as long as I have my friends, I will spread all the happy rainbows,” Bennett said.

To some of her customers, Bennett is a gem that keeps them coming back.

As an avid "Lord of the Rings" fan, Bennett quotes Gandalf to help describe her impact on the world: “I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”