COUNTING BLESSINGS $1.87 AT A TIME!!!
Do YOU know how much a three pack of Rolaids rolls cost?? $1.87! Do you know why I know that?
This evening, the girl child and I were in the check-out line at the local WinCo., the type of no-frills grocery store where they check out onto double belts so they can check out two customers almost simultaniously and you bag your own stuff at the end.
There was a young Hispanic woman getting just a few groceries, a small bag of sugar, Doritos, nacho cheese dip, milk, juice, some fruit and a three-roll pack of Rolaids. As she slid her Oregon Trails Card (like food stamps) through the machine to make "payment", my tired and therefore unusually judgmental mind flashed to thoughts about the type of groceries she was buying and why we hard working folks don't get some kind of food benefits each month. A lightening bolt hit my brain, you know, one of those really bright thoughts that could not have been generated on it's own from your own brain at the moment? (I just call those planted thoughts "Spirit" now!) It said, "You do! It's called a paycheck!" Wow!
So, the checker, a handsome, friendly man in whose line I always seem to find myself, rang up the total and discreetly showed her on the screen that there was an item not covered by her benefits card. Speaking very limited English, she showed him the pack of Rolaids. He quietly, asked her if she wanted them and she said yes. He pointed to the total on the screen. She looked a bit confused and then shook her head and handed him the Rolaids. As she packed her bag at the end of the counter, I whispered across to him, "How much are those?" I only asked because we were squeezing in a bit of mid-week shopping with only a twenty dollar bill, carefully adding up our purchases as we strolled the isles choosing the items we really needed. He said, "$1.87." I said, "Please give them to her and ring it on our bill." He gave me a glowing smile and asked if I would like him to tell her who they were from. I said, no. She was busy bagging her few items and I am sure thinking about how to make ends meet and solve the heartburn for herself or a loved one (been there, done that) and did not seem to notice when he set the pack on top of her last item.
He turned to me and said, "That was really, really nice of you!" I said, "Well, the jelly bellies may have to go back, but oh, well!" Our items came well under our twenty dollar limit and I got a million bucks worth of warm fuzzies being able to make a very little "Pay it Forward"! (If you miss this reference, go rent the movie, right now!) How lucky I have been to have friends and family help me all of my life, even for things I didn't "need" and how thankful I am for the opportunity to give back.....even if it just $1.87!!!
This evening, the girl child and I were in the check-out line at the local WinCo., the type of no-frills grocery store where they check out onto double belts so they can check out two customers almost simultaniously and you bag your own stuff at the end.
There was a young Hispanic woman getting just a few groceries, a small bag of sugar, Doritos, nacho cheese dip, milk, juice, some fruit and a three-roll pack of Rolaids. As she slid her Oregon Trails Card (like food stamps) through the machine to make "payment", my tired and therefore unusually judgmental mind flashed to thoughts about the type of groceries she was buying and why we hard working folks don't get some kind of food benefits each month. A lightening bolt hit my brain, you know, one of those really bright thoughts that could not have been generated on it's own from your own brain at the moment? (I just call those planted thoughts "Spirit" now!) It said, "You do! It's called a paycheck!" Wow!
So, the checker, a handsome, friendly man in whose line I always seem to find myself, rang up the total and discreetly showed her on the screen that there was an item not covered by her benefits card. Speaking very limited English, she showed him the pack of Rolaids. He quietly, asked her if she wanted them and she said yes. He pointed to the total on the screen. She looked a bit confused and then shook her head and handed him the Rolaids. As she packed her bag at the end of the counter, I whispered across to him, "How much are those?" I only asked because we were squeezing in a bit of mid-week shopping with only a twenty dollar bill, carefully adding up our purchases as we strolled the isles choosing the items we really needed. He said, "$1.87." I said, "Please give them to her and ring it on our bill." He gave me a glowing smile and asked if I would like him to tell her who they were from. I said, no. She was busy bagging her few items and I am sure thinking about how to make ends meet and solve the heartburn for herself or a loved one (been there, done that) and did not seem to notice when he set the pack on top of her last item.
He turned to me and said, "That was really, really nice of you!" I said, "Well, the jelly bellies may have to go back, but oh, well!" Our items came well under our twenty dollar limit and I got a million bucks worth of warm fuzzies being able to make a very little "Pay it Forward"! (If you miss this reference, go rent the movie, right now!) How lucky I have been to have friends and family help me all of my life, even for things I didn't "need" and how thankful I am for the opportunity to give back.....even if it just $1.87!!!
posted by oregoncelticlady @ 11:51 PM
10 Comments:
I love this!
When I shop at our local store Cutsforth Thriftway, they give coupons at the end of your check out and if you spend enough, I think it's 100.00 you get a 5.00 coupon off you next purchase and other free coupons for like eggs or bread. I have for as long as I can remember always given them back to the checkout person and asked if they would see to it that someone gets them that needs it. I do not discriminate, I leave it up to them and hope that they do the right thing.
See, I also feel it's a way to give back to my community anonymously, 5.00 and some other free coupons at a time, to pay it forward for the help they gave me and my family when we needed a hand up.
You are the first person I've ever told about this and I've been doing it for years everytime I shop there.
Sweeti, sooo cool! Even with a good job, benefits and family, I still know that sometimes $5 makes a huge difference in your day! I have a teacher friend that goes through a fast food drive through for breakfast once a week and pays for the person behind her, no matter what. She doesn't care what kind of car or anything. She said she figures 7 out of ten people either need the money OR need the act of kindness OR need to know that others care as much as they do! Thanks for sharing with me!
I think there are many of us who love doing this and it really makes such a difference. We never know whose life we may influence with a kind word or gesture.
Bravo for you!!!
You're welcome, it was my pleasure. Your blog influenced my morning this morning check it out.
I needed to read a Good Guy story tonight. I was not looking for it, but I found it here. Thanks.
That's a great story. While I'm not a fan of government sponsored welfare, I do think more people should be charitable on their own. If they were, we wouldn't need the government to do it for us.
I wonder if the lady thought the Rolaids would qualify as food. I mean you can buy candy with food stamps. Why not Rolaids?
I was raised more or less by my grandparents, and they used to tell me stories about when the world was really poor in the 30s and 40s, and everyone did what they could for others. That was just the normal attitude of the times.
So many people now are obsessed with ME comes first! It is so sad, that they can't see past their endless search for the all mighty dollar. Would it be so hard for any of us to give just a little?!
Bravo to you! Such a good role model. See, I knew I was right about the mommie...
Ann
Ann, =)
I was the recipient of a breakfast a few months ago....I passed it back to the car behind me. The attendant told me that is quite common.
I have been known to drop quarters into parking meters...
But I don't consider myself very charitable, all in all. A failing of mine, I think. Well, got to have something to work on...grin!
I do this at the local grocery store with milk. The program works but buying 6 gallons of milk and then you a get a gallon free. I have someone that comes into my home to help with my mom and I give her all the milk coupons and ask her to give them to a patient that needs milk. I think that is a good prgram. The same grocery store is starting the Thanksgiving turkey coupons so here we go again. Me and several friends are planning in donating boxes for people that we know that don't have the money nor the means to put a Thanksgiving meal on their table. I believe that when you do something good for someone else it will come back to you 10 folds.
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