Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Biker Dude At The Grocery Store


--by ppiemomma, posted May 8, 2008

The other day I was shopping with my four-year-old son, Jacob.   We had been in the store quite a while, so his patience was already wearing thin when I mentioned that I had forgotten to get soup. 

As I turned the cart around and headed down the soup aisle we saw the biggest, baldest, most bewildered looking biker dude staring at the cans.  I thought he might be threatening them to jump into his basket!  Like most children his age, Jacob is still learning to not shout out his observations about people in public.  As we approached the man, Jacob yelled, "He rides a motorcycle, I bet!  Do you think he looks mean?"

I was mortified, but the biker smiled and won Jacob over with a high five.  The biker sheepishly asked if I could help him out.  There was a single mom with small children who lived next door to him and she had just lost her job.  He was looking to buy groceries for her family and, since he had no children, he had no clue what little kids liked.  He didn't want her to know where the groceries were coming from, so he hadn't asked her any questions. 

I have to admit, walking around the grocery store for half an hour with a big, bad, biker dude taking orders from a four-year-old about what to buy was a blast.  The best part happened when we went out to the parking lot.  Once again, in a typically innocent way, Jacob yelled out his observation to the biker, "You really rock!"  I could see the biker blush from three cars down!

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Readers Comments

pray4peace wrote: loved this read, wonderful and made me smile.
looks can be deceptive and i am sure u and the kid had fun!
thanks for spending time to buy stuff for an unknown lady.
moral12 wrote: With having three brothers (all of whom ride/rode motorcycles), I could appreciate your story. Thanks for sharing!
Michele wrote: How so very true this is of all of us. We see someone outside our norm and generalize what they are like. This is an awesome story to remind us to look deeper. Thanx for sharing.

Be blessed! :)
MadeUSmile wrote: I love this! What a fun experience!
Sharon wrote: People do wear their lives on their sleeves. But we misinterpret what the symbols are and conclude "all or nothing" much of the time! No one is all bad or all good. We are all a mixture of things that can change at any second by just choosing something different!
ShayK wrote: Who received the blessing? The neighbor,her children,the author,the authors child, the "biker dude",anyone who this reaches. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is only skin deep if you have thick skin.
cyntcha wrote: This was a lovely story, brought tears to my eyes, because of its focus on the kindness of someone other than the author, and how s/he learned from someone else. Blessings all around, including the single mom who suffered so we could all be enriched.
JeanieMarie wrote: What a wonderful story, and example for your son! And, a great lesson for me, not to be judgemental of others. Thank you!
HIDDENANGEL wrote: this made me cry...angels do walk upon the earth in every shape and form...god bless
Tan wrote: It reminds us to remember the wise saying about the container and the content. so often we judge the content by its container! When really the content is far more important than the container..

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