A recent Reddit.com thread asked users “What is the kindest thing a complete stranger has done for you?” One user described a kind-act that shaped his outlook on life — and caused him to make a life-changing realization. Read the post below.
Many years ago, when I was first married, we had very little money and were living paycheck to paycheck. You know how it is–stretching that last few bucks for a week or longer, just trying to scrape by until payday. My wife was pregnant with our first, and I was working a part-time job.
I went to the store a few days before payday to get only what we absolutely needed. Some bread. Some dishwashing soap. I think a jar of mayo. In all, about $10 worth of stuff. At checkout, I swiped my debit card, hoping it would clear (I didn’t know my balance). The cashier deadpanned, “Declined. Try again.”
I asked her to put an item back, then I swiped with the new total as a line formed behind me. The cashier, now perturbed, “Declined again.”
Please take this other thing out, cashier.
Swiped again.
Declined again.
I felt the eyes of the shopper queue on me, the pressure of the cashier’s impatience, the shame of not being able to afford basic groceries, the shame of everyone in line having a pretty good idea of my pathetic bank balance.
I hung my head when I swiped that last time, yet was still ashamed when the card was approved for buying that loaf of bread. I took my receipt and slunk out to my car, wanting to disappear, feeling absolutely humiliated.
Almost to the car, I heard the voice of a little girl behind me, the girl who was standing with her mother right behind me in line. “Mister! Mister!” I turned around, and she reached out to hand me a plastic grocery bag. It was full of each item I had the cashier put back. “It’s okay–we bought this for you.”
Surprised–no, shocked–and humbled, I mumbled a “thank you,” walked to my car, put my head on the steering wheel and sobbed my eyes out. With shame, with gratitude, with the absurdity of my situation, with disappointment in myself as the “breadwinner” yet not being able to take care of basic obligations.
It’s been about 20 years, but that memory is still vivid, and I’m still grateful to that little girl and her mom, and I still cry when I think of how such a small act can mean so much for a person in need. Since then, I’ve helped people whenever we could afford it (yes, even in grocery lines), and I remind myself that sometimes angels have bodies of flesh and bone.
Never underestimate the power of kindness. To some it’s a small act, but to other it may mean the world.
Pass it on.
