We all need to think
Certainly makes you think twice!
Some people!' snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the
grocery store. 'You would think the manager would pay attention and
open
another line, 'said a woman. I looked to the front of the line to see
what the hold up was and saw a well dressed, young woman, trying to get
the machine to accept her credit card. No matter how many times she
swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it.
'It's one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a
job
like everyone else,' said the man standing behind me. The young woman
turned around to see who had made the comment. 'It was me,' he
said,
pointing to himself.
The young lady's face began to change expression. Almost in tears,
she
dropped the welfare card onto the counter and quickly walked out of the
store. Everyone in the checkout line watched as she began running to her
car. Never looking back, she got in and drove away. After developing
cancer in 1977 and having had to use food stamps; I had learned never to
judge anyone, without knowing the circumstances of their life. This
turned out to be the case today. Several minutes later a young man
walked into the store. He went up to the cashier and asked if she had
seen the woman.
After describing her, the cashier told him that she had run out of the
store, got into her car, and drove away.
'Why would she do that?' asked the man. Everyone in the line
looked
around at the fellow who had made the statement. 'I made a stupid
comment about the welfare card she was using. Something I shouldn't
have
said. I'm sorry,' said the man.
'Well, that's bad, real bad, in fact. Her brother was killed in
Afghanistan and has left three young children and she has taken on that
responsibility. She's twenty years old, single, and now has three
children to support,' he said in a very firm voice.
'I'm really truly sorry. I didn't know,' he replied,
shaking both his
hands about. The young man asked, 'Are these paid for?' pointing
to the
shopping cart full of groceries. 'It wouldn't take her
card,'the clerk
told him.
'Do you know where she lives?' asked the man who had made the
comment.
'Yes, she goes to our church.'
'Excuse me,' he said as he made his way to the front of the line.
He
pulled out his wallet, took out his credit card and told the cashier,
'Please use my card. PLEASE!' The clerk took his credit card and
began
to ring up the young woman's groceries. Hold on,' said the
gentleman. He
walked back to his shopping cart and began loading his own groceries
onto the belt to be included. 'Come on people. We got three kids to
help
raise!' he told everyone in line.
Everyone began to place their groceries onto the fast moving belt. A few
customers began bagging the food and placing it into separate carts.
'Go
back and get two big turkeys,'yelled a heavyset woman, as she looked
at
the man.
'NO,' yelled the man.
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. The entire store became quiet for
several seconds. 'Four turkeys,' yelled the man. Everyone began
laughing
and went back to work.
When all was said and done, the man paid a total of $1,646.57 for the
groceries. He then walked over to the side, pulled out his check book,
and began writing a check using the bags of dog food piled near the
front of the store for a writing surface. He turned around and handed
the check to the young man. 'She will need a freezer and a few other
things as well,' he told the man. The young man looked at the check
and
said, 'This is really very generous of you.'
'No,' said the man. 'Her brother was the generous one.'
Everyone in the store had been observing the odd commotion and began to
clap. And I drove home that day feeling very American. A great example
of why we should be kind and patient. Kindness is the language the blind
can see and the deaf can hear.
KEEP THIS GOING.... IT WILL OPEN A LOT OF EYES, HOPEFULLY HEARTS, AND
KEEP SOME MOUTHS SHUT !!!!
Labels: God, Iraq, kindness, veteran
