Long before online shopping was invented, everyone relied on newspaper ads for sales. Many years ago, a week before Christmas, one of our city’s large department stores advertised Christmas china and accessories for sale, and when the ads came out, so did the shoppers.

The china department was crowded with last minute bargain hunters admiring mugs with reindeer handles, Santa cookie jars and star-shaped serving platters. I found the perfect red bowl, decorated with snowflakes for my Christmas buffet, and joined the long checkout line. There was only one salesclerk, a young woman, doing her best to keep the line moving.

While waiting, I chatted with the women in front of and behind me in line. We discussed the weather, what toys kids wanted and how the holidays came faster and faster each year. I complimented the well-dressed woman in front of me on her beautiful green wool suit.

“I only wear it during the holidays. It’s so old,” she said, laughing.

As we inched our way to the checkout counter, more and more customers joined the already long line, now quite long. I wondered why the store hadn’t hired more people to help.

When only one woman was ahead of my new friend in the green suit, an older women in a mink coat with plaster-sprayed hair barged in front of her and asked the salesgirl, “Do you have more reindeer mugs in the back? I only see four and I need eight.”

“I’m sorry, all the sale items are out on the table.”

“There’s always more things in the back, you just need to check,” the woman insisted.

“There are no other holiday items in the back,” the salesgirl replied. “My manager said everything was out for the sale.”

The mink-coated woman huffed, but wordlessly walked away. The young salesgirl apologized to the customer for having to wait.

“There’s one in every crowd,” I heard someone in line say.

Just as the girl was about to help this customer, the mink-coated woman broke in line again, this time with a tree-shaped platter.

“Do you have a box for this?”

“We don’t have boxes here,” the salesgirl answered. “You need to go to gift wrapping on the first floor.”

“I don’t mean a gift box. I mean, did this platter come with its own box?”

“They didn’t come with individual boxes; the platters were shipped as a group.”

“What kind of store is this?” the woman blurted out, walking away.

As the woman in front of me in the green suit finally made it to the cashier counter, the mink-clad woman interrupted a third time, with a white plate.

“I need eight of these and I know you have more in the back because these are not on sale.”

The young girl replied, “As soon as I finish with these ladies who have been waiting in line, I’ll be glad to help you, but I can’t leave right now.”

The mink woman said, “I’m good friends with the general manager of this store and I think he needs to hear that his salesclerks are slow and rude.”

“The woman behind me whispered, “She needs to look in a mirror to see rude.”

The green-suited lady said to the interloper, “Do you also know the wife of the general manager?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, I’m meeting her for lunch so tell me your name. If I’m late because you prevented this young woman from doing her job, she’ll know why.”

The mink coat shook as the woman slammed the plate down. Storming away, she shouted, “Tell her the salesclerk in china needs to be fired.”

“This young lady is exactly the kind of employee this store is lucky to have,” my new friend answered.

“Do you really think I’ll get fired?” the young girl asked.

“Of course not. I doubt she knows the general manager. She just made that story up, thinking you would be intimidated.”

“I really need this job. I know I’m slow, but there was supposed to be two of us until the other woman called in sick. I told the manager I could handle this by myself, but it’s having to wrap each piece of china in plain newsprint before bagging that makes me so slow.”

“We can do that for you, can’t we girls?” the green-suited woman said, turning towards me and the woman behind me.

“Oh no, I can’t let you do that,” the salesgirl said, horrified. “I’ll get fired for sure. Besides, you’re having lunch with the wife of the general manager.”

“You won’t get fired. Just tell anyone who asks that we’re your volunteer Christmas elves helping out today. And I am not having lunch with anyone. I can tell a whopper of a story as good as the woman in her mink!”

We paid for our items, then stood behind the salesclerk. The three of us started wrapping each customer’s purchases. After an hour, the sales table was empty, and all the shoppers were happily wishing us a Merry Christmas.

“Thank you all so much. I don’t know what I would have done without you three ladies. You’re definitely my Christmas angels.”

I’m not sure “angels” would describe us, but if it hadn’t been for the courage of the woman in the green suit, customers would have been upset over the long wait, and the young salesgirl indeed may have lost her job. I learned — and maybe we all learned that day — how the spirit of kindness from just one person can create a ripple effect, inspiring those around her.

A week later, there was a picture in the newspaper of the general manager of that store and his wife attending a charity New Year’s Eve party. There she was, the lady in the green suit, whose kindness had organized us to help the young salesgirl. She certainly could tell a whopper of a story.