"this is a good thing!" — K.P.

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: Brittani Burns · Unsplash · DEPT. OF VISUAL DOCUMENTATION · 16:20

§ 3 — approved procurements — K. Patterson

• [ ]Official Door-Holding Appreciation Badge
• [ ]Emergency Door Stopper for Overburdened Hands
• [ ]Hygienic Door Handle Sanitizer Kit
• [ ]Compliment Card Dispenser (Wall-Mounted)
• [ ]Portable Smile Reminder Mirror

Approved — Form J-7

Karen does not receive a commission. (the department does.)

Good morning, team. Today I want to officially recognize a small act of courtesy that, in its quiet way, restores one's faith in the simple goodness of humanity. I am speaking, of course, of the moment when a stranger holds the door for you.

It happens without warning, often when you are laden with grocery bags or fumbling for keys. You approach the entrance to a café, a bank, or a library, and a hand appears—an anonymous hand, attached to an anonymous arm—pulling the door wide and waiting, patiently, for you to pass. The gesture lasts only three seconds, but in that brief span, a bridge of silent goodwill is built between two people who will never meet again.

There is no expectation of gratitude, yet we offer it anyway: a nod, a smile, a murmured 'thank you.' And the holder of the door, already moving on to their own errand, receives it as if it were nothing. But it is not nothing. It is a tiny, perfect moment of shared civility, a reminder that, at our core, we are not strangers at all—just humans helping other humans get through the day.

— K. Patterson, ext. 204 (phone broken since 1987, just walk over)