Learning The Happiness In Giving

--by fortunate1, posted Jun 12, 2010

I was in a local grocery store this afternoon, standing in line at the checkout behind a young woman. There were two little boys with her who were very patient and well behaved.

I saw a lot of store-brand items in her order. She held a number of coupons, was watching the subtotal carefully. She had placed the things she didn't "need" at the back of her order. I knew what she was doing, as I've done it myself. When the total reached a certain amount, she asked that the clerk to ring up the coupons before she continued. When that was done, she added the two left-back boxes of cereal, but told the clerk she definitely could not afford the last item - a jug of pure maple syrup. She paid using an EBT card for the qualified part of her order, and thanked the clerk for helping her.

I was really impressed by the effort she had made to keep an eye on her budget, her politeness towards the store clerk and the good manners of the two boys.

Fortunately, she took an extra minute before she exited the store (looking for keys, maybe?). I had the clerk ring the maply syrup through on my order, and I caught her just as she hit the exit. At first, she seemed confused - because she hadn't forgotten anything. Then it dawned on her (the clerk was pointing to me - saying I did it), and she just gave me the biggest hug. I nearly cried from her reaction - she was just so happy!

The reaction I got from her was so much more valuable than the cost of the item. It was then that I realized I got a "buzz" from doing this.

1871 Reads

Posted by fortunate1
Jun 12, 2010
Comments (11)

Readers Comments

Jacinda wrote: Wow! What a fantastic story! Small things like that surely can go a long way! You would have definately touched her heart! Thanks so much for sharing :) I hope you have a wonderful day! Love and smiles, Jacinda :)

Bluebell wrote: Thanks for sharing your "buzz" with us. Keep on buzzing. Love and Light and a Thousand Smiles, Blubell

heartofflesh wrote: It is more blessed to give than receive!
You did spend money but you know,
You gave yourselves a very BIG GIFT!

MadeUSmile wrote: Sweeter than the syrup itself! Very kind gesture!

iamaleaf wrote: Nice, made me smile...

shirleyjohn wrote: Let you get more "HUGS"(for doing noble work)...

My Recent Post : Why should I worry?

myfbil wrote: What goes around, comes around is my favorite saying. You gave happiness, not just syrup, and you received a sweeter happiness of your own!
Have a sunshine day!

luckyman wrote: It is in giving one receives!

-saint augustine
Good work keep it up and you wil benefit more than the receiver!

trueblue wrote: What a nice thing to do. Good on you. I loved your story

Ithunn wrote: Will we get hooked on this? Doing raok every day instead of every week? And then we won't be able to stop? And everybody else will be doing the same, like an epydemic? :>

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