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What’s On My Plate?: Kindness Edition

A couple of months back, I was home recovering from knee surgery. My world had shrunk to the four walls of my house: no driving, limited mobility, asking for help (not my style), lots of frustration! For someone who has worked non-stop for almost 40 years, who sees hundreds of people each day at work, meets with staff, vendors, and more … this was a huge change for me.  

As the days went by, I found myself thinking a lot about Healthy Living (of course!) and it occurred to me there was one thing I really missed the most about not coming to work, and that was the everyday kindness I’ve tried to nurture over the years.   

Like I’ve said in the past, I do love the food! And I do love the farmers, the truck drivers, the service providers, the vendors, etc. But nowadays, what I love most of all is that feeling of kindness that permeates everything we do.   

Many moments come to mind … like a few months back when, after loading my car with some groceries after work, I remembered I’d forgotten something in the store. I rushed back inside, leaving my car wide open—doors, trunk, what was I thinking?? And when I came back out, a woman who did not know me and I didn’t know her was standing by my car and hers.  

“I didn’t want to leave your car wide open!” she said with a smile. “So I waited until you came back out.”  WOW … mind blowing in an era where sometimes it feels like kindness is hard to come by. But that is the oasis of joy HL has become; a place where we hire and train with kindness in mind and hopefully everyone who comes through our doors, whether it’s a farmer, a guest, a truck driver, or me forgetting to grab something—gets a dose of that rare commodity. 

And so, with Thanksgiving in mind, I hope Healthy Living will dole out extra helpings of kindness to everyone. Our staff is going to be working overtime to make your experience in the store smooth and happy. Whether it’s keeping our shelves and coolers stocked with the thousands of products you love, getting hundreds of farm-fresh turkeys ready to be picked up, cooking huge amounts of sides and mountains of pies, adding our favorite recipes to our website … we will be here to deliver all that AND the kindness-infused hospitality we’re known for.  

That way we hope to play a small part in making your Thanksgiving even more special.

KATY