Dee, who answers my doctor's telephone, is one of my hospitality angels. I'm not sure that I would recognize her if I met her on the street, but just the sound of her voice makes me feel better. Then there's Veronica from Ghana. She is one of the checkers at the wildly eclectic discount grocery up the street from the elegant gourmet shop. Her perfunctory colleagues do their job just as efficiently, but Veronica's broad smile, her collegial expressions of gratitude when I help bag the fruits and vegetables, her inquiries about my whereabouts when I am on the road — all make my encounters with her at the cash register occasions of true hospitality.

Margaret Guenther, At Home in the World