Kindness.

Right after we moved, I went to the grocery store to stock my depressingly empty cabinets. It had been a while so my late night shopping trip was a BIG venture. Okay. So it's really a big venture any time I go to the store. I remember when my family was tiny, we ate on some ridiculously tiny amount of money and still felt like we ate like kings. But now, my family is big enough that when I need ground beef for a meal, we need two or three pounds, not one. We can finish off a box of cereal in one and a half mornings, and a 1/2 gallon of ice cream is dessert for the six of us... once. It's amazing how quickly it all disappears. Point being, when I go to the grocery store, my cart is always heapingly full.... like balance the last few items on top and hope they don't slide off, full.

On this particular shopping trip I pulled up to the checkout line at about ten o'clock, so the store was pretty much empty. But not totally empty. While I waited for the woman ahead of me to finish checking out, a man, holding a little basket with three items in it came up and got in line behind me. There was one isle open, since, well, it was 10 o'clock.

I looked at the man behind me, and decided that if he had to wait for me to check out, his ice cream may melt before he got it home. So I told him to go ahead of me in line. He asked if I was sure. I told him to NOT let him go ahead would be rude. Because I have five thousand things in my cart.

He thanked me and went ahead, just in time for a woman to come and get in line, holding a loaf of bread. One loaf of bread. That's it. She was wearing scrubs, and was obviously very tired. So what else could I do but let her go ahead too, right? She thanked me and hurried home to her bread hungry family, just in time for a man to come, holding a gallon of milk and some paper towels.

Oh Sheesh. This could go on all night.

He went in front of me too. I mean seriously... the check out woman was older and was NOT moving very quickly, and I wasn't exactly in a hurry. It only seemed fair.

I didn't really feel like I was doing some grand gesture of niceness. You should have seen my cart! It seemed right to let three minute-long transactions take place before my one ten minute long purchase. Once it was my turn, I didn't really think about it again.

And then, about half way through my groceries, the check out lady asked if I knew the first man that was buying the ice cream. I answered that I didn't know him at all.

Then she held up ten dollars.

"Well, he left this to pay for some of your groceries."

I was humbled, and overwhelmed and touched by his generosity all at the same time. I probably won't ever see him again. Even if I did, I don't think I would recognize him. But I will always remember his kindness.

Ten measly dollars hardly made a dent in the gigantic sum of money I spent on food to feed my family that night, but it will forever be a sunshiny reminder that in all the darkness and worry that exists in this world, there are still good people everywhere... nice people with good hearts, doing good things.

I love people like that.