I worked at Trader Joe’s – the sweet way we cheer up customers having an off day

Royal told the outlet that Trader Joe's gave associates permission to give away freebies.

She would usually try to extend the benefits “if a customer was having an ‘off’ day or if I just felt like going above and beyond for an awesome (usually polite) person," Royal recounted.

"I was given the complete freedom to dazzle them how I saw fit,” Royal said.

At Trader Joe's, small acts of kindness added up.

“Depending on the situation, I’d usually give them a bar of chocolate on the house or toss in a cute greeting card at the last second," Royal remembered.

"This resulted in some extremely rewarding experiences.”

On one occasion, Royal gave a pint of ice cream to a woman who had just been dumped – even including a plastic spoon.

“On another occasion, I gifted a bouquet of sunflowers to a teary-eyed woman who I later found out had just lost her husband,” Royal said.

And ahead of one customer's job interview, Royal added an extra frozen chicken tikka masala to his bag for extra luck.

The small acts of kindness improved many customers' days and encouraged polite, cheerful customers to come visit again.

Royal said that she also benefited from the brand's reputation, which drew in positive, pleasant employees.

“My fellow Crew Members truly were the best,” Royal said.

Her upbeat coworkers made her work experience more positive every day.

“I’ve always considered myself to be a pretty optimistic gal," Royal said, "but for the most part, I was just a dime dozen at Trader Joe’s."