JORDYN HOLKA
Reverb Editor
Captain America is his favorite superhero, and Fredonia is his home. Meet Matt Stinson, the Centre Point cashier who encompasses so much more than simply his infectiously pleasant demeanor.
Stinson has been working as a cashier with FSA since March of 2011, beginning just six short weeks after losing his previous job when the Dunkirk branch of Blockbuster shut down in February of 2011 due to lack of business.
Having grown up in the town of Fredonia and spending time on campus as a child with his father, a former English professor, Stinson is no stranger to the Fredonia way of life.
“I think there really is a warmness to Fredonia — everybody acts as a community. It’s a friendly place,” said Stinson. “It feels like home, really; for me, it is home.”
Stinson loves the Fredonia community and works to be an active force in making it a positive and joyful environment.
“I really feel like it’s my job to do the best I can in everything and treat everyone politely, fairly. I always want to treat people how I would want to be treated — that’s something that’s really important to me.”
This attitude shines through in Stinson’s work, as he is always pleasant in all of his interactions with any and all customers who come through his cashier line.
“He’s so happy, no matter what time of day it is. I actually find myself going out of my way to go through his line when I see he’s working,” said Laura Werwinski, a sophomore public relations major. “I can always count on him to tell me to have a good day, and it always does make my day a little better.”
But beneath that exuberant exterior, there is a man with thoughts and emotions other than pure, customer service-approved bliss.
“Underneath my personality, I’m actually pretty shy; I’m pretty self conscious at times, but I try to just work through it and do the best I can,” said Stinson.
He said that he maintains his air of seemingly infinite positivity through the practice of deep meditation each afternoon before he comes into work for the evening. He also names sufficient rest as a major contributor.
When asked if he has ever even wanted to get angry with a student or other customer while on the job, Stinson quickly replied, “Oh, no — I’d feel horrible about that!”
Outside of work, in addition to his meditation, Stinson likes to play guitar and collect comic books.
“My favorite series of all time is Captain America,” said Stinson.
When asked what else the students who see him every day might not know about him, Stinson replied, “One thing people might not know is that I have a learning disability, so it’s harder for me to multitask — I sort of have to really hyper-focus. So I always want to be really pleasant and easy to get along with people, but at the same time, I sort of have to really hone in on what I need to do. It has its challenges, but I think in some ways it has shown me resilience — to try to always do my best and to try to always be fair and kind to everybody.”
With an outlook like that, it is no wonder that Stinson is such a joy to be around. He is able to take the role of cashier, a role that could be simply background noise in a student’s day, and turn an interaction with him into a notable experience.
“I love interacting with all types of people — students, faculty, staff, older people, younger people, everybody, really! I really do enjoy interacting with [students], and I look forward to seeing them whenever I do,” he said.
Overall, Stinson chooses to live his life by a mantra of “keep moving forward.”
“I know all of us might think of bad things that have happened or mistakes we have made,” he said, “but, hopefully, we just learn from them and then keep trying to grow and improve as people.”
There really is a lot to be learned from Stinson about life and positivity. Oh, and something else we can learn from him — his expert opinion on the best snack to grab at Willy C. The answer: the Buffalo chicken sandwich.