http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/11/18/chodak.starbuck.customers.kusa

 

I did this at the local grocer the other day. A customer behind me appeared to have been struggling, with her two kids in tow. She had not a lot of groceries, so I put forth an extra $10 towards her bill. I watched her as she made her way through, and when she saw that $10 had been deducted from her bill, she started crying.

I'm glad you did that. A lot of people are perennially on hard times with no one to fall back on, and they're so used to the daily struggle that it takes them completely by surprise when a stranger does something nice for them.

 

There are a lot of small, non-monetary things that can make someone's life better, too, like noticing that an elderly or disabled person is having difficulty reaching something on supermarket shelf and lending a hand, hoisting a suitcase into or out of the overhead rack on a train for someone who can't quite do it, or shoveling a sidewalk for the single mom next door who's so swamped she doesn't know what to give up next.

 

Most of us can make other people's lives a little nicer if we just pay attention to what's going on around us and practice feeling empathy (instead of annoyance, sometimes) for other people. It makes a better, more peaceful world and in the end we all benefit.

Cool

That is cool.

My mom tells the story all the time about when somebody picked up the entire grocery tab for us when we were little.

I think the closes I've come to a situation like that is when I was a kid. I was at Meijers in Reynoldsburg, buying a model car and I was short like 75 cents. The guy behind me was nice enough to chip in for the rest! But this story here is cool. Its nice to know there are still generous people in this world. 

When I was a kid, I wanted to buy this stuffed dog for my little brother...I don't know how much it actually cost, but when I told the guy running the counter at the little shop that I had $5, then asked him how much the stuffed dog cost, he said it was $5...probably was $10 or $12, I'd guess, but that kindness has always stuck with me.

 

My little brother named him "Sparky".

 

When I was a kid, I wanted to buy this stuffed dog for my little brother...I don't know how much it actually cost, but when I told the guy running the counter at the little shop that I had $5, then asked him how much the stuffed dog cost, he said it was $5...probably was $10 or $12, I'd guess, but that kindness has always stuck with me.

 

My little brother named him "Sparky".

 

 

That's a great story  :-) ( Unless you were at the dollar store  :x )

That's a great story  :-) ( Unless you were at the dollar store  :x )

 

I'm laughing out loud here - that's fantastic!