I was in the grocery store this morning picking up some items for lunch, and when I had my canvas bag filled, I went to the lines to check out.  There were two lines that had just one person in them, and in a glance I took in the situation and weighed my options.  Line one had a young woman who was using WIC vouchers, so I knew it would take a few more minutes.  The second line had just one person, but I would have had to cut off an older gentleman to get into the line ahead of him.  Not wanting to be so rude, I decided to go to line one.

IMG_2778I was not in a rush, so it was not a big deal if it took a little longer.  They young lady in front of me had her items separated and the corresponding voucher ready.  The transaction started off well enough, but one of the vouchers was not valid yet, so it threw her whole system off.  She apologized to me, and I brushed it off.  I gave her a smile, and told her not to worry at all.  By this time I did have a few more patrons behind me, but it really was not taking that long.  I guess it felt long to her.  She was going to pay some with cash, but it came down at one point where she was short just some change.  Before I could even think of how to help, the checker quickly brushed it off and told her to not worry about it.  She said that people leave change all the time.  By this time the young lady was shedding some tears.  I reached out and touched her arm, and told her that it was OK.   She kept quietly apologizing all the while tearing up.  The checker was so sweet, as she reassured  this yo
ung woman and spoke kindly to her.  When she was done, she quickly and quietly left.  The checker quickly rang me up, and I told her to keep the change.

I was glad that I got into the line behind the young woman.  In this day and age, we are all so busy trying to just make life work, that we seem to not have time to just be nice.   I was glad to be a witness of the interaction between the two women.  As I left the store I could feel tears welling up, as I thought of the young woman.  I am not sure what all were the feelings that made her cry this morning, but my hope is
that the rest of the day will be filled with the kindness shown to her by a stranger.