Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Homeless Woman Bought Me A Coffee!


--by kufda, posted Apr 10, 2012

My father and I started our morning by darting into the local grocery store. I waited on line at the Starbucks counter while he shopped around to pick up a few things. 

As I was standing there I became aware of an elderly woman, hair disheveled, wearing layers upon layers of old torn clothing, hunched behind me in line.
 
She had a few toiletries and seemed to want the Starbucks cashier to ring up since that queue was shorter than the grocery store queues were. 
 
At some point I became aware of her edging closer behind me - closer than I was comfortable with! I instinctively placed a hand over my purse and drew it closer to me. My fear and imagination raced creating wild stories about this homeless woman who might try to steal from me.

Then it was my turn to order. As the barista rang up my total I discovered I was 67 cents short. I called to my father but he is hard of hearing. He asked me to repeat what I said but he still couldn't make me out.
 
At that point a long, grey arm, with holes in its sleeves, reached over from behind me. She laid 67 cents out on the counter, saying, "Here, We all need some help sometime."
 
I was stunned! Here was a woman who clearly had very little to give and in great need herself. I had judged her wrongly and she had reached out, unsolicited, to help me! 
 
What an amazing gift and lesson this woman gave me about judging others. Thank You, God!!

 

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Readers Comments

heartofflesh wrote: I learnt that people with the least tend to give the most.....Please think about..Thans for your post....It is also gracious to receive.
tcsgirl wrote: Thank you for posting this humbling story. You are right in that we are so quick to judge by appearances. What a beautiful story.
moonshadowdebbie wrote: This is a great story of how not to judge a book by it's cover. We are quick to judge. I often have asked my small group at church what would happen if a smelly, dirty disheveled person walked into the church....what would be our reaction.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful story. God truly bless you with it and taught you a very valuable lesson.
MakeSomeoneSmile wrote: Thank you for sharing your story. It is a great reminder to us all not to judge too quickly!
trueblue wrote: I love your story....
treeflowerpuzzle wrote: Some of us are a hair's breath away from homelessness, and it could be any of us. My oldest son has down syndrome and is epileptic and autistic, and my other son is mildly autistic. Issues beyond our control have forced us into serious financial problems. But we've always had a reprieve. I've been grateful for that, and my heart goes out to anyone who is homeless. As i said it could be any of us. Your story is exactly why we shouldn't judge, thanks for sharing.
KrystynaM wrote: Beautiful story. As someone who has been homeless, i know that a lot of people are quick to judge, but i do hope by simply reading your story, it has helped others open their eyes a bit and try not to judge by outward appearances. Thank you for sharing, it brought a smile to my face.
momov3 wrote: Such a great story and so many fantastic comments! But the one i love the most and the hardest to learn is from @heartofflesh: "it is also gracious to receive". You gave that woman a gift. She was able to give. Something. And as a member of this site, we all know how much we love giving. You allowed her to give instead of resisting or rebuffing her. How easy it would have been to say, "oh no. You don't need to. You don't have it. Or whatever". But you gave her the gift of giving. Now that is a gift! God bless and thank you for sharing!
Manuella wrote: Exactly!

Never be sooo quick to judge a person,specially by their appearance.

Lesson learned!

:)
M
Mary Beth Waters wrote: I just love this story! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome story and "letting" her receive a blessing by blessing you. :)

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