Grocery Store Commotion Turns Into Kindness

--by Modestobob, posted May 27, 2009

"Some people!" snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the grocery store.

"You would think the manager would pay attention and open another line," said a woman. I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it.

"It's one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job like everyone else," said the man standing behind me.

The young woman turned around to see who had made the comment. 'It was me,' he said, pointing to himself.

The young lady's face began to change expression. Almost in tears, she dropped the welfare card onto the counter and quickly walked out of the store. Everyone in the checkout line watched as she began running to her car. Never looking back, she got in and drove away.

After developing cancer in 1977 and having had to use food stamps; I had learned never to judge anyone, without knowing the circumstances of their life. This turned out to be the case today.

Several minutes later a young man walked into the store. He went up to the cashier and asked if she had seen the woman. After describing her, the cashier told him that she had run out of the store, got into her car, and drove away.

"Why would she do that?" asked the man. Everyone in the line looked around at the fellow who had made the statement. '" made a stupid comment about the welfare card she was using. Something I shouldn't have said. I'm sorry," said the man.

"Well, that's bad, real bad, in fact. Her brother was killed in Afghanistan two years ago. He had three young children and she has taken on that responsibility. She's twenty years old, single, and now has three children to support," he said in a very firm voice. "I'm really truly sorry. I didn't know," he replied, shaking both his hands about.

The young man asked, "Are these paid for?" pointing to the shopping cart full of groceries. "It wouldn't take her card," the clerk told him. "Do you know where she lives?" asked the man who had made the comment. "Yes, she goes to our church."

"Excuse me," he said as he made his way to the front of the line. He pulled out his wallet, took out his credit card and told the cashier, "Please use my card. PLEASE!" The clerk took his credit card and began to ring up the young woman's groceries.

"Hold on," said the gentleman. He walked back to his shopping cart and began loading his own groceries onto the belt to be included. "Come on people. We've got three kids to help raise!" he told everyone in line.

Everyone began to place their groceries onto the fast moving belt. A few customers began bagging the food and placing it into separate carts. "Go back and get two big turkeys," yelled a heavy set woman, as she looked at the man. "NO," replied the man. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. The entire store became quiet for several seconds. "Four turkeys," yelled the man. Everyone began laughing and went back to work.

When all was said and done, the man paid a total of $1,646.57 for the groceries. He then walked over to the side, pulled out his check book, and began writing a check using the bags of dog food piled near the front of the store for a writing surface. He turned around and handed the check to the young man. "She will need a freezer and a few other things as well," he told the man.

The young man looked at the check and said, 'This is really very generous of you.'

'No,' said the man. 'Her brother was the generous one.'

Everyone in the store had been observing the odd commotion and began to clap. And I drove home that day feeling very American.

We live in the Land of the free, because of the Brave!
Remember our Troops of Yesterday and Today !

Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear.

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May we be generous with our praise of others, liberal with our hugs and smiles and never Judge the plight of others until we know their circumstances. Who knows...it could happen to us too! Have a marvelous day and know that you are so appreciated! :)

9251 Reads

Posted by Modestobob
May 27, 2009
Comments (14)

Readers Comments

hotcocoa wrote: This is realyl touching and generous form his part. I would like to have helped paying part of the total amount.

Her brother must have done something big indeed to change the life of this wonderful man.

God bless him.

Thanks for the story, god bless all the people.

mmkandy wrote: I am a working mother, and by working i mean 3 jobs. My average day off is once a week. I had to use foodstamps even working 65 hrs a week. This story is typical of what you would experience at the groc store. I would shop after 12 am just to not have this happen. I love this story! People need to think before opening their mouth. :)

MiNdY wrote: Whether its true or not its amazing. I got very sick once, had to have surgery and becuz of the time off i was fired. The disability insurance i bought at work didnt cover atrial fib therefore i had to go on food stamps for 6 months to be able to feed my kids as a single mother. It was humiliating to go to the store. Not everyone who uses food stamps is a worthless person.

angelwingz wrote: Tbh i don`t mind if this is a true or fictional story. It`s a feelgood. And think again message. I wish many of us a)
Thought b4 we spoke many a time,b)had that kind of $£ to help. But mind you.

Each £$ will help. One $£ is a little help. Getting together to give a £ $ a time. Makes it that difference.

I know,i work for charity. Each penny/cent
Makes a diffrence. In the end!

Nestbird wrote: Wonderful story.

But isn't it sad that a mother has to live on welfare stamps. Isnt it sad that it is not considered a valued and valuable job like any other.

We are a group of mothers and carers who want to change this and give salaries and status to all mothers and carers of children and elderly.

cabbage wrote: What a moving experience to hear this story.

Thanks for sharing it.

caca wrote: Oh my god what a phony story. At least write something believable next time. The big hole in this story is that some guy just happens to come into the store looking for this woman that "goes to his church"? Lol, phony.

geet wrote: Thanks for sharing. Such stories make us human again.

MrSkeptic wrote: Sounds too good to be true. Especially this line: "several minutes later a young man walked into the store". I find it fishy that her friend came looking for her so soon after and that even after "several minutes" all the people were still in the line.

warmth wrote: Awesome bob, thank you so much for sharing this, you have made such a great impact on me

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