The kindness of a stranger...
(The following is a true story relayed to me from a very dear friend...)
I was standing in line at the K-Mart to purchase some play-doh for my child,
a mere 7 dollars, nothing big.
Two people in front of me, a mother & a daughter, also in line, waiting to purchase a Dora shirt, clearly for the little girl. The mother thinking that the shirt was on sale.
It was not.
They reach the cashier, the shirt gets rung up & the mother realizes she does not have enough cash with her. She says to the cashier "This is so embarrassing, I'm sorry but I don't have enough... "
She then says to her daughter, "I'm sorry sweetie, but mommy doesn't have enough for your shirt, we're going to have to leave it here & go home."
I noticed the tears start to well up in the little girls eyes as she reluctantly took her mother's hand & with her head hanging slightly lower than before, quietly left the store for home.
I threw my plastic at the cashier & said in a hurry "RING THAT SHIRT UP PLEASE! Keep my card, I'll BE RIGHT BACK!"
Leaving the play-doh on the counter & my credit card in the hands of a perfect stranger, I hurried outside with the shirt in hand to catch up to that mother & daughter.
I looked feverishly for them afraid that I was too late...
...and there they were, getting into their car.
I ran up to them, smiled at the mother & handed her the shirt & said, simply:
"Merry Christmas."
The mother's eyes filled with tears & the daughters face lit up brighter than any Christmas tree I've ever seen.
The mother proceeded to say to her daughter, "Sweetie give the nice lady a hug & say thank
you..."
To which I replied, "oh it's ok, I'm not feeling all that well & I wouldn't want to get her sick, just the smile on her face is thanks enough for me."
And, feeling better than I have in a very long time, I went back into K-Mart to pay for my play-doh.
I can only hope that if I were that mother, that a stranger would do the same for my child.
Wouldn't the world be a much better place if they did?
Merry Christmas everyone!
I was standing in line at the K-Mart to purchase some play-doh for my child,
a mere 7 dollars, nothing big.
Two people in front of me, a mother & a daughter, also in line, waiting to purchase a Dora shirt, clearly for the little girl. The mother thinking that the shirt was on sale.
It was not.
They reach the cashier, the shirt gets rung up & the mother realizes she does not have enough cash with her. She says to the cashier "This is so embarrassing, I'm sorry but I don't have enough... "
She then says to her daughter, "I'm sorry sweetie, but mommy doesn't have enough for your shirt, we're going to have to leave it here & go home."
I noticed the tears start to well up in the little girls eyes as she reluctantly took her mother's hand & with her head hanging slightly lower than before, quietly left the store for home.
I threw my plastic at the cashier & said in a hurry "RING THAT SHIRT UP PLEASE! Keep my card, I'll BE RIGHT BACK!"
Leaving the play-doh on the counter & my credit card in the hands of a perfect stranger, I hurried outside with the shirt in hand to catch up to that mother & daughter.
I looked feverishly for them afraid that I was too late...
...and there they were, getting into their car.
I ran up to them, smiled at the mother & handed her the shirt & said, simply:
"Merry Christmas."
The mother's eyes filled with tears & the daughters face lit up brighter than any Christmas tree I've ever seen.
The mother proceeded to say to her daughter, "Sweetie give the nice lady a hug & say thank
you..."
To which I replied, "oh it's ok, I'm not feeling all that well & I wouldn't want to get her sick, just the smile on her face is thanks enough for me."
And, feeling better than I have in a very long time, I went back into K-Mart to pay for my play-doh.
I can only hope that if I were that mother, that a stranger would do the same for my child.
Wouldn't the world be a much better place if they did?
Merry Christmas everyone!
1 comment:
Merry Christmas, indeed. You surround yourself with some pretty awesome friends. ;)
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