April 27, 2004

Act of Random Kindness

Today the nicest thing happened while I was shopping. It warmed my heart and made me realize that there are still good people in the world. I was in line at the grocery store and as I was finishing up and signing the credit card receipt, the woman behind me said, "excuse me, is this yours?" I saw she was holding my red pepper. I told her it was and when the checker asked me if I still wanted it, I decided that it wasn't worth the time and effort to make a new purchase (especially since I did not have the miniscule amount of money that the pepper would have cost). I told her forget it and I would do without it. The woman behind me then told the checker that if I didn't want it, she would take it. That seemed like a good idea. I finished my purchase and wheeled my cart towards the exit. About 10 seconds later, I heard another "excuse me" and I saw the woman who had been standing behind me in line holding out the red pepper for me. She had paid for it and wanted to give it to me. I tried to offer her money but she adamantly refused to take it.

I know this is not a big deal. I know the pepper did not cost a lot. But what I also know is I never saw this woman before in my life. I didn't really need the pepper that badly but she didn't know that. She showed me that in a world where barely anyone trusts anyone else, we can still smile at strangers, and we can do our best to help other people out- even in the most insignificant ways.

Posted by peninah at April 27, 2004 07:19 PM
Comments

That is really nice!!! Yup, it's good to get a reminder every once in a while that there are still nice people around.

Posted by: visitor at April 27, 2004 08:23 PM

You are so very right. We need more people in the world like this and more people to let us know they exist. It makes me happy, on a somewhat sad day, to read this. So, thanks for sharing.

Posted by: Rob at April 29, 2004 10:24 AM