Heartwarming / Not Always Working

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• This story, in a weird sorta way.
  “I should probably wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day, but I f***ing hate today!”
  “That is exactly what I needed to hear!”
• This story is both heartwarming and awesome at the same time. A transgender person is initially refused help with changing the gender on her license due to an ignorant employee... Until the manager shows up, that is. Bonus points for the manager putting a note on the new license saying that the employee's “going to be getting a detailed lesson about gender issues, and at the end of that lesson I’m firing her for her behavior” - at least he is trying to educate his employees so the situation is less likely to happen again.
• When a person gets singled out for accidentally standing in a line that wasn't actually a line, nearly all the people in the other line "step out" for one excuse or another to let that person in front of them.
• Here is one that starts out depressing but ends up heartwarming: a mom with a sick baby is standing outside the drugstore just before it opens, two employees proceed to mock her and accuse her of being a crack whore - and then a third employee comes to the rescue, lets her in before the store officially opens, and then proceeds to pay for the medication out of his own pocket.
• After a photo studio goes out of business (apparently without letting the superstore they were in know about it), an employee of the superstore tracks down the people who purchased the studio's services but never received the photographs. Talk about customer service!
• This story about helping a pregnant woman and her husband after he lost his job. Not only do the pharmacists give the couple medicine they could not afford themselves, but another customer overhears and offers the husband a new job.
• A hot dog vendor helps brighten people's day by showing off his impressive language skills (he claims to know more than 20 languages and proves to know Tagalog, Mandarin, and Arabic) and then offering a hot dog free of charge to the narrator.
• With Late Hour Comes Great Nobility, about a woman who just lost her job being offered a drive back home free of charge after missing the last train for the night.
• An agoraphobic whose house recently burned down is shown an act by employees who pay for the pizza that was ordered.
• As cathartic as it can be to see mean employees being fired for their actions, in this story, it warms the heart to see a little boy decide to be the bigger person and plead for mercy for the employee:
  Employee: Ain't welfare grand? The more [kids] you have the more food stamps you get. F***ing welfare mama!
  Friend's Ten-Year-Old Son: [yelling] She's not my mom. My mom's in the hospital in ICU, in a coma! And food stamps are the only way dad can feed us. My mom and dad have good jobs, and work hard, and I'm not gonna let some nosy bully like you talk like that to us!
  Manager: Please clean out your things and leave.
  [the employee apologizes with tears streaming down her face]
  Friend's Ten-Year-Old Son: Please don't fire her. Then her kids will cry when they need food stamps!
  • Makes you see the myriad other stories where a repentant employee was fired in a different light, and perhaps think twice about feeling gleeful or thinking of them as happy endings.
• This story. The restaurant allows the workers to listen to their own MP3 players via the sound system. Two immigrants working as helpers come to a co-worker, asking if she was doing fine. It isn't until the co-worker sees the boss later that she learns that her MP3 player was playing a lot of sad songs and break-up lyrics, and the helpers were worried that she was dumped. Turns out, it's set on shuffle, and the songs were not an indicator of her mood. Nonetheless, she's touched by their concern.
• A Real Life Cloud Cuckoo Lander defends a employee from her manager when the employee starts daydreaming.
  Girl: No, sir, you can’t think too much! What do we have brains for, anyway, if you’re not going to think! Hooray for thinking people! They’re great! I bet your employee’s one of them.
  Manager: [laughs creepily] Well, I bet she’s thinking about me.
  Girl: [stares him up and down] No, sir, I really don’t think she’s thinking about you. And even if she was, it’s probably not in the way you think. If you think at all. Can I just order now? ... I just used the word ‘think’ four times in a sentence!
• A Brony helps out four of his fellow fans against a ticket seller (who steadfastly believes in the Animation Age Ghetto and thus refuses to let them get tickets) by taking a page right out Princess Celestia's hooves.
• This worker tells the story of how she became so cheerful.
  “I don’t know, really. Well, I do remember something that’s always stuck with me. One day, when I was about six years old, I was queuing at a fast food place on my own. I reached the front of the queue and the cashier asked me if she could serve the man behind me. Being a kid and not really understanding, I let her. She then did this a further four times and completely ignored me until my mum noticed and stepped up. The cashier didn’t even apologize. Even though I’m now 22, this occurrence still bugs me to this day, so I guess I vowed to never be like that if I could help it!”
• This group of customers make sure the wait staff doesn't get punished for the kitchen's repeated screw-ups, despite being so disappointed they tell the manager they never will return.
• This barista, who helps a nervous customer not to be so worried about his upcoming date by telling him her husband had the same doubts. And recognizes him five years later when he returns to the cafe with the same date.
  Barista: Hello, and what can I get y— OH, MY GOODNESS! YOU TWO! Oh, my goodness. Is that a RING?! [Punches customer's arm affectionately] I told you so, kiddo!
• A patient without insurance can only afford to make the minimum monthly payment to the ER, but takes the effort to phone in the payment every month on time. Karmic Jackpot ensues.
• This therapist and secretary are so grateful to the mother for business they give her the session free of charge and come in on their day off.
• This server who spares her customer from a mortifying experience she herself had gone through on her sixteenth birthday.
• An employee gives away free DVDs to a loyal customer since the store is shutting down.
• This vet helps out a customer who can't afford the important dental treatment for her dog.
• This worker is pleasantly surprised when her co-workers throw her a bridal shower.
• "You’re the best thing that’s happened to me all day." (Said by the employee who works at a severely understaffed (as in, a lot of customers are there but he's the only one at the clock) fast-food restaurant and was afraid of harsh repercussions for forgetting the narrator's order, but instead was forgiven.)
• This airport shop employee helps a guy out on a bad day. "Unfortunately, since this package has been opened, I’ll have to give it to you at 50% off. Your total is [Half of the ridiculous airport price, making it actually reasonably priced]."
• When the narrator is suffering from alcoholism, a complete stranger looks after them for three days, and it helps them completely recover and turn their life around.
• A kid was short one dollar, and the cashier told him not to worry about it.
• A man buys a gym membership, then is found sleeping in the locker rooms, as he is homeless and jobless (he lost his previous job when he caught his ex-wife cheating on him with his boss), and admits to mooching meals off other members. The owner hires him on the spot as a live-in janitor, and now calls him "my most trusted employee".
• This animal shelter employee definitely counts - although they cannot accept the stray cat to their shelter, they provide the broke student who brought the stray in with medication, completely free of charge.
• This family enters an animal shelter to adopt a cat, and bring their dog with them. The employees think they're looking to trade the dog for a cat, but they actually brought the dog to make sure he and the cat got along well before they adopted one. That's some fine thinking on the family's part.
• This same-sex couple makes reservations at a restaurant (which lies in a region where homophobia is common) on their anniversary, and all the workers treat them with the same respect as they would any other couple. Doubles as an Awesome moment.
• "This was the first time I’ve seen her smile in days." Because she got a chance to be just like Daddy when they needed each other the most (her mother, his wife, had recently passed away).
• A plumber's assistant (and a mountain of a man) absolutely adores this submitter's kitten.
• This poster has to deal with a very racist coworker. The coworker starts dating a new guy and reveals that he is from one of her least favorite ethnic groups and that he's changing her views for the better, saying, "If [brown people] are capable of being as sweet as him, then they can’t all be bad!”
• This story starts off with the OP being accused of being racist towards a coworker because OP always looks at him oddly. Once the OP explains the real reason for the odd looks^note their prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces) means they have difficulty distinguishing the coworker from others, particularly their supervisor, so they kept looking for other means to recognize them, the coworker is very apologetic for the assumption. The two of them make peace, and come up with a fun way to help the OP recognize the coworker; from then on, whenever the coworker spots OP, he says "Lollipop!" so the OP knows it's him.
• This OP hears that their uncle passed away. They confide in their boss and acknowledge that they're short on time off, but the boss cuts them off and promises that they'll appeal to HR to make sure OP gets compassionate leave (which is usually only granted in the cases of dead grandparents or immediate family). The boss then prompts OP to tell him about their uncle, but when OP starts choking up, he steers the conversation to more cheerful topics, like pie and puppies. As icing, the boss makes good on his promise and OP manages to get the leave they needed.
• Present Management Stress Disorder: While the reason for OP's PTSD is a Tear Jerker— the waitress yells at the idiot assistant manager that OP was a hostage in a robbery— the way that the restaurant crew and his own boss rallies around him are this and a Awesome Moment. The boss as a veteran is sympathetic, since he also has PTSD, and gives permission for OP to take multiple breaks during the dinner rush to clear their head. When the boss is away for a week, the assistant manager tries blocking the exit with heavy meat and produce boxes when OP tries going for a mandated break, doing the same with a table for the customer entrance. Cue the OP ending up in a Troubled Fetal Position as his PTSD is triggered, and the kitchen staff lividly coming to help. The waitress shouts, "DID YOU BLOCK THE DOOR?! HE WAS A HOSTAGE IN A ROBBERY, YOU IDIOT! WHY WOULD YOU BLOCK OFF THE DOORS?" and goes outside with OP as soon as the rest of the staff gets the boxes out of the way, making sure they have his medication. The staff also calls the boss, who shouts at the assistant manager for his sheer insensitivity and causing a fire hazard by blocking a customer exit, which leads to said manager being fired.
• Someone’s In Very Hot Water: Doubling as an awesome moment, a "gentleman" notices a grocery store employee who's underage, visibly dehydrated and exhausted after working for four hours with no break or water during a Florida heatwave. Mistaking him for a customer, the employee says his manager ordered him to keep working; the gentleman tells him to go into the breakroom and he will buy him some water; he won't be in trouble. When the manager fires the teenage employee for "insubordination," the gentleman sees the employee walking out still having not taken his break or gotten a drink. He goes Papa Wolf, brings the employee back inside, and confronts the lady, who recognizes him: "YOU GOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO TELL ME, [MANAGER]?!...This poor kid’s been outside for four f*** hours without water! He’s clearly dehydrated, and he could’ve suffered a heat stroke! What the f*** were you thinking? Why didn’t you send someone else out?" Turns out the gentleman is the regional director of the store franchise. He orders the employee to take a thirty-minute break with the water and then spend the rest of his shift with the frozen foods. Under his orders, the grocery store manager is suspended for 14 days and then fired when she returns since she was making underage employees work for longer than permitted under Florida law and refusing to give them mandated breaks.