🫱: The Hand on Her Shoulder

🟨 Chapter 1 – “It’ll be fine”

Élise, 27, wore a worn-out name tag and a mechanical smile.

At checkout 7, she scanned items like others tick off seconds.
Rushed customers, distracted, sometimes cold, sometimes disdainful.
No one really looked at her. Not truly.

Her days were long. Her contract unstable. Her dignity worn thin by careless remarks.

"Did you forget my discount code?"
"Can we get someone a bit faster?"
"Hello… oh, sorry, I was on the phone."

She never cried in public. But that day, she was close.

🟨 Chapter 2 – The humiliation

An irritated customer raised her voice:
— “Seriously, what’s the point of you if you can’t even remember the basics?”

Everyone had heard. Élise lowered her eyes. Her hands trembled.

“I’m exhausted. I’m not a robot.”
“I’m going to quit. I’m worthless.”

🟨 Chapter 3 – The hand

The next customer stepped forward.
An elegant woman around 70, with a tender smile.
Her brown eyes had the warmth of aged wood. Her gaze was calming.

She didn’t rush. And when Élise handed over the receipt, the woman gently placed her wrinkled hand on hers.

She spoke in a soft, clear voice:

— “You’re a lovely young lady.”
— “You do your job very well. And it’s clear you take it seriously with real care.”

Élise’s eyes widened. She couldn’t say a word.

The woman gently pressed her hand again and added:

— “Don’t let the remarks of wounded hearts affect you.”
— “What others project onto you belongs to them. Don’t carry it as your burden.”

Then she smiled. And walked away. Simply. Without waiting for a response.

🟨 Chapter 4 – The turning point

Élise stood still.

A stranger had seen her. Truly.
Had sensed her pain. And offered… acknowledgment.

That evening, instead of writing her resignation, she opened her notebook and wrote:

“I am visible. I am capable.
I deserve respect.
And I’ll never forget that gentle hand on mine.”

🟨 Chapter 5 – The commitment

Weeks passed. Élise applied for training.
She attended evening classes. Confidence returned.

A year later, she became a support worker in a reintegration center for women.
She taught, listened, and helped others rebuild.

One day, at a supermarket checkout, she saw a young girl crying.
She stepped forward. And gently placed her hand on hers.

— “You’re doing a good job.
You’re a good person.
And what others project onto you belongs to them. It’s not your burden to carry.”

💡 Moral

A word. A hand. A glance.

It doesn’t always take a major shift to save someone.
Sometimes, it’s just a human gesture… at the right moment.

When we feel ourselves fading away, it only takes one person to see us… for us to exist again.