I work just minutes from one of London’s busiest railway stations. Another minute or two away is a lovely, lively street with stalls selling Mexican, Thai and French food, as well as cafes, sandwich places and an Iceland which is one of the cheaper frozen food stores here in the UK.
As I was walking around one lunch time I spotted a small elderly lady pushing an empty push-chair slowly along the pavement.
I immediately wanted to do something for her but I felt a little strange following her around so I decided to continue my walk. Fate had other plans though. A few minutes later I passed Iceland and saw her putting groceries into her push-chair inside the store.
That’s when I decided I’d try to pay for her shopping.
The cashier looked at me kind of incredulously as I tried to explain that the money I was handing over was for the elderly lady. She just couldn’t quite get her head around the whole scheme, and it was tough trying to explain in front of the other people queuing to pay for their groceries.
I persisted. She called a colleague over and I tried to explain it again. “In a few minutes an old lady with a push-chair will be coming through the check-out, I have given your colleague some money that should help pay for all or most of her shopping."
This must have been the first time anyone had done this in their store! But they got the idea and smiled.
I didn’t hang around to watch but I hope the surprise awaiting her at the till helped bring a smile to her face that day!
P.S. Today, after posting this, my first ever HelpOthers story, I wandered back down that street at lunch time and spotted the old lady! She seems to be doing well and seeing her again after writing about her made me smile!
6423 Reads
- Posted by Spoonerism
- May 10, 2012
- Comments (9)
Readers Comments
Bluebell wrote: That's a lovely story, thank you for following your heart. Love and Light and a Thousand Smiles, Bluebell
DriftOff2Dream wrote: Awesome story, and what a nice gesture! =) =)
MakeSomeoneSmile wrote: I'm sure it meant a great deal to the elderly woman. Bless you for making sure to find a way to get this done, even when they did not necessarily understand what you were trying to do. Nice going and thanks for sharing! :)
Aurelia wrote: What a beautiful surprise that woman had .... I'm sure it was money Well Spent, Spoonerism!!!! You definitely have a kind heart. Thanks for the inspiration~ :0) Smiles are Contagious and this story put a huge smile on my face :0) :0) ~Aurelia
angel3 wrote: You are a kind person. God bless you.
Blessed2BKind wrote: Love that it made you smile to see her again after the kindness you showed :) you make me smile a very nice story
moni wrote: All d best. God bless u! :):)
earthling wrote: So glad you persisted. And so cool that you spotted the old lady again!
luv4all wrote: V sweet way of being kind and showing love to a stranger. Thanks for sharing. Hope to get many more from your end.
