Well, it was 10% off Tuesday at one of my favorite grocery stores. (Plus it was customer appreciation day, so that was another 5% off. SCORE!!) The joint is filled with businesswomen in their suits and spring coats. I like to observe people. One lady is talking to a friend she ran into there about how they just adopted a new dog. (They named him Robbie.) There's a family of five with the cutest little toddler in the cart. (But as I got closer he had scratches all over his face....???...i dunno)
But one lady stuck out at me. She was middle-aged and dressed in all brown. You could see the top of what was probably a full back tattoo sticking out above the neck of her shirt. She would walk about the store and pick up items, just like everybody else. But she would just look at them long and hard. Not reading the nutritional information or anything, just staring very intently at it.
I move along and check items off my list as I put them into my cart. I stand in one aisle for a good five minutes as I repair the back of my cellphone that fell off when I dropped it.
When I'm done, I scan the checkout lines to see which one is the shortest. Number six only has one lady and she's just about rung through. Of course it's the tattoo lady. Her total came to $43.94. She told the cashier, she didn't want the rest of the items in her cart, because she didn't have enough money for them. I was taken aback, because I would never have the courage to say that to someone. But the cashier was polite and said "That's okay. We'll just put these over here."
The tattoo lady hands the cashier a gift card to the store. "So the difference is $34. 16."
"Oh. Didn't that have like $30 on it?"
"No, it had $9.78."
The lady seemed flustered and kept apologizing for nothing in particular. Eventually she gathered up enough bills and change in her purse to almost make up for it. But she was still $7.34 short.
I can't help but pity this poor lady. She seemed so down on her luck, but such a nice person. I kept thinking of how embarrassed she must be at that moment and it broke my heart. I told the cashier to just put the difference on my bill. It was only $7.34. Not a big deal.
The lady was probably even more embarrassed, but thanked me repeatedly for my generosity.
As she was pushing her cart away, the cashier said, "Oh, are these your keys?"
She smiled and came back for them. As she extended her arm to reach for them, her sleeve came up and I saw all the cuts and scratches on her arm. Along with sores from where needles have been continuously jabbed into her veins.
Needless to say, I tried to help someone out.....but perhaps I could have picked a better candidate.
Moral of the story..........Love thy neighbour as thy self....
Even if she has an addiction.
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3 comments:
I like your closing comment. You did the right thing. Those marks might now have been fresh those could just be scars from her past life which hopefully she has left behind.
Or maybe you inspired her change her ways if there still is some sort of addiction.
good job jan.
Awh, JanJan you're such a nice girl. I wish I was a nice as you, then I'd be quite nice.
You know, a lot of times in a situation like the woman you were talking about there was something near the beginning that triggers a chain of events that results in an unpleasant outcome. I don't think you could have picked a better person to help. her addiction could have all started with some bad friends, abusive parents, or rebellion against great parents. In truth only she knows, and that's not even for sure.
Good people can do bad things, and even saints are sinners in some peoples eyes.
Wow, great blog Jana. The title was a little harsh though, don't you think?
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