This Thanksgiving week, I was making my last run to the store and as usual ended up choosing the slowest checkout line. I was two people behind an elderly Alaska Native couple, who seemed to be having problems finding a working credit card to pay for their full load of goods. Because I was socially distant I did not hear the exchange between them and the cashier but I watched this couple collapse on a nearby bench when the cashier picked up the phone to apparently call the manager. Then the 30-something, nice-looking man passed over his credit card. The cashier ran it and handed the receipt to the young man, who then went over and handed it to the distressed couple. They looked up stunned and amazed. I asked out loud, “Did you just pay for their groceries?” Yes. “Do you know them?” No, he replies. I then declare. “What a wonderful random act of kindness. I clapped in appreciation and so did the cashier. As the young man departed, I told him, “You just made my day.” I really meant to say, “You just made my Thanksgiving week.”
I am so thankful to live in a community where these random acts of kindness occur.
Kate Troll
Douglas
