This past Friday found me going to town and doing all our errands alone. Most of the time I am accompanied by my husband which I enjoy but this time I was alone which I also enjoy. While he has always been patient about my “scrounging” through thrift stores, I hurry knowing that he really doesn’t like it much. I was looking forward to taking my time. Especially since there were some things we really need for summer.
I was in one of these stores for a considerable amount of time. It has a .25c clothes pile which is usually worth the time it takes to check out each item. It was particularly worth it this week. I found six pairs of jeans which will fit one of my daughters around her middle. The fact that they were way too long or that some of the knees were ripped doesn’t matter because I’m planning to make them into capris and shorts.
I noticed an Hispanic lady searching for as long and as hard as I was. I ended up with a cart full and she had one very nice blouse that appeared to be for her. We arrived at the checkout together. At such times, I invite the person with the least amount of items to go ahead of me. She thanked me and went. Her English seemed to be limited as she struggled to understand the cashier. She was trying to pay for the item with a card. This particular store only accepts cash or checks. I saw real disappointment on her face as she realized that she could not pay for this beautiful top she had found.
Stepping forward I asked how much it was. The cashier replied, “$4.50”. I turned to the woman and asked her if I could buy it for her while pulling a five from my wallet and gesturing towards the register. She understood and looked at me questioningly. I answered her look by shaking my head yes and saying, “It’s alright. Please let me do this for you.”
She nodded and whispered, “Thank you.” All the time the cashier was ringing it up this woman looked at me and then the cashier in disbelief. She was handed her bag and I told her to have a nice day. She whispered her thanks again and reached out hesitantly as if to ask if she could give me a hug. I said I love hugs and we hugged. I could feel her emotion and gratitude in that hug. It was obvious that this meant a great deal to her.
I began to unload my cart when I heard the cashier say, “You made her cry.” I looked up from the cart, “Excuse me?” “You made her cry, she cried all the way to her car” was the reply. The cashier herself seemed choked up. Another employee came over to tell us that customer was crying and the cashier told her what had happened.
I was embarrassed now and mumbled something about it not being a big deal, it was only five dollars, etc. I was surprised by the employees’ answers, “But nobody does things like that any more. We’ve worked here for several years and we’ve never seen someone do that.” That response hurt my heart. Really? Never?
I am not sharing this story for a pat on the back. What I did really was nothing…just a simple act of kindness that anyone would do. But apparently we don’t. That makes me sad. Maybe we are afraid or maybe we are too busy to notice or maybe we just don’t care. I don’t know what holds us back from being kind.
I don’t know why this woman reacted as she did. Maybe she was having a terrible day or maybe the blouse was for a special occasion or maybe she was used to rudeness from white people. I don’t know what her life is like that made such a small kindness so very meaningful to her.
What I do know is that for a few moments our female hearts spoke to one another. We didn’t need to understand each others words because we could understand each others feelings. We reached through the darkness of a world full of hate and hurting to share a moment of kindness and caring. And we both came away better people for it. That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?
I was in one of these stores for a considerable amount of time. It has a .25c clothes pile which is usually worth the time it takes to check out each item. It was particularly worth it this week. I found six pairs of jeans which will fit one of my daughters around her middle. The fact that they were way too long or that some of the knees were ripped doesn’t matter because I’m planning to make them into capris and shorts.
I noticed an Hispanic lady searching for as long and as hard as I was. I ended up with a cart full and she had one very nice blouse that appeared to be for her. We arrived at the checkout together. At such times, I invite the person with the least amount of items to go ahead of me. She thanked me and went. Her English seemed to be limited as she struggled to understand the cashier. She was trying to pay for the item with a card. This particular store only accepts cash or checks. I saw real disappointment on her face as she realized that she could not pay for this beautiful top she had found.
Stepping forward I asked how much it was. The cashier replied, “$4.50”. I turned to the woman and asked her if I could buy it for her while pulling a five from my wallet and gesturing towards the register. She understood and looked at me questioningly. I answered her look by shaking my head yes and saying, “It’s alright. Please let me do this for you.”
She nodded and whispered, “Thank you.” All the time the cashier was ringing it up this woman looked at me and then the cashier in disbelief. She was handed her bag and I told her to have a nice day. She whispered her thanks again and reached out hesitantly as if to ask if she could give me a hug. I said I love hugs and we hugged. I could feel her emotion and gratitude in that hug. It was obvious that this meant a great deal to her.
I began to unload my cart when I heard the cashier say, “You made her cry.” I looked up from the cart, “Excuse me?” “You made her cry, she cried all the way to her car” was the reply. The cashier herself seemed choked up. Another employee came over to tell us that customer was crying and the cashier told her what had happened.
I was embarrassed now and mumbled something about it not being a big deal, it was only five dollars, etc. I was surprised by the employees’ answers, “But nobody does things like that any more. We’ve worked here for several years and we’ve never seen someone do that.” That response hurt my heart. Really? Never?
I am not sharing this story for a pat on the back. What I did really was nothing…just a simple act of kindness that anyone would do. But apparently we don’t. That makes me sad. Maybe we are afraid or maybe we are too busy to notice or maybe we just don’t care. I don’t know what holds us back from being kind.
I don’t know why this woman reacted as she did. Maybe she was having a terrible day or maybe the blouse was for a special occasion or maybe she was used to rudeness from white people. I don’t know what her life is like that made such a small kindness so very meaningful to her.
What I do know is that for a few moments our female hearts spoke to one another. We didn’t need to understand each others words because we could understand each others feelings. We reached through the darkness of a world full of hate and hurting to share a moment of kindness and caring. And we both came away better people for it. That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?
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