Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Dropped Quarter


--by Aurelia, posted Feb 22, 2008
The other day, my sister accidentally dropped a quarter while leaving the grocery store.  To her surprise, an elderly man came out of the grocery store behind her, holding another quarter in his hand.

The elderly man handed his quarter to my sister thinking that it was the quarter that she had dropped.  My sister informed him that it was a mistake and told the man to keep his quarter.  The man then informed my sister that he didn't need the quarter because he had already saved over 9,000 quarters to follow his dream of driving across the country.  He then said regrettably that he was now too old to drive across country and had decided to spend the money on purchasing a TV instead. 

As the old man slowly  walked away, it occurred to my sister that a friend of hers had traveled across country by train.  My sister quickly stopped the man and told him not to give up on his dream of traveling.  She went on to explain that she knew someone who took a cross-country trip by train and had a wonderful time.  The old man responded that he'd never considered that option and thanked my sister for her idea.  

"Phew", my sister told me later "I just couldn't  see him giving up on his dream and buying a TV! I'm glad I dropped that quarter today and I had the opportunity to meet with him."
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Readers Comments

Barry wrote: I hope the man eventually has his trip. Regardless where he travels, it seems like he's already on a journey. Nice chain-of-events story. Thank you for sharing.

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