I was in the grocery store the other day maybe 4th in line, a young woman with a little baby and possibly her mom were checking out. She was checkin out with WIC checks for baby formula (Maybe 8 or 10 cans)and the checks were denied for some reason. She was then upset and digging through her purse as well as her mother so they could buy a few cans to get her baby through until she took care of the matter. The poor woman woman was practically in tears. They were litterally counting nickles & pennies to buy some formula.

The man next to her said he would pay for 2 of the cans with his order if she would allow him. Another woman in between us was frustrated and bitchin the whole time and actually left the line saying it was probally some scam attempt. I moved up and also offered to buy the baby 2 cans with my order. She was so grateful and now in full cry mode for the help.

The man simply said take it as a random act of kindness and pass it on someday.

I am always reminded of the movie Pay It Forward. ( Great movie) I am always helping people in some way or another. In most cases somewhere down the road, I get it back. I comend you Dawnette

Maybe I'm naive, but it wouldn't have occured to me that it might be a scam. And even if I suspected that, wouldn't it be worth it to risk the cost of two cans of formula to help someone out?

Right! I confess ...I am usually a person who would walk away from the situation, thinking ...."yeah right"! Though I would'nt be so rude about it as the impatient lady was. Unfortunetly.....This is Buffalo, NY and there are a lot of scammers out there .....I don't think this was one though. ...and Kudos to the gentlemen in front of me for starting it because I know I felt really good about helping her and her baby!

In my opinion it is better than giving to the Christian Childrens Network and nowadays even the Red Cross. We need to help Americans before we help others, this country is in pretty bad shape right now.

Dawnette, that was so nice! Pat on the back for you.

and this ^, not some huge thunderbolt or decree, is how we change the world day by day one day, one hour, one minute, one gesture at a time

great story - so what if it was a scam - can u imagine being so desparate for BABY FORMULA to have to scam for it????? God help us

exactly

maybe we can call it the baby formula public embarrassment scam
crime has never been so close to home (good grief people)

I was walking down to check out the surf one day. I saw these obviously 13/14 yo kids acting up..pushing one another into the street making cars brake....making hand gestures like gangsta rappers (in a well to do beach community)......just doing things to make me roll my eyes and think "PUNKS".

In the foreground I saw an elderly lady obviously disoriented. Before I could get to her these kids put down their surfboards, helped her arm in arm across the street, and made sure she got in the door of the retirement complex ok.

I just stopped, watched and was a bit choked up. I also had a little re-evaluation of my own judgement.

it was prolly gramma to one of them who either has money or talks regularly wiht their parents....

sorry to burst ur bubble

kindness has a ripple effect....

I believe that helping another person when we can is what sets human beings apart from animals. It is compassion for someone who needs a helping hand. I never thought much about it, I just did it when the situation called for it. My reward was to see my sons go and rake a neighbor's yard or shovel their snow without being asked and to refuse payment when the neighbor offered it. They have told me they learned this from me.

So I would say that when you see young people help someone there is a good possibility that they grew up seeing the adults in their lives doing this same thing.

It goes back to the old saying that kids learn by example!

I'll walk a mile in your shoes, if you will walk a mile in my bare feet...

so refreshing to hear that there are others in the world with an ounce of compassion in them...

i agree, even if it was a scam, it would not have mattered... the baby was the one needing it.

i used to work in the store yrs ago.. and with the wic checks you needed to have your wic card id with you. perhaps this was the case? i have never seen a wic check turned down unless this was the case.. and state id card does not work.. though in the yrs i accepted them they always had their card with them.. im sure it could get lost though.. but back then they mailed out those checks too im sure with all the mail theft those checks could actually get stolen as well, which would could be reasoning's as well to not accept the check. perhaps it was not a store that was state certified to be able to accept wic checks.oh to add to this.... they also used to have a certain store you picked to go to written on them...say.. written to safeway.. and you tried to use them at fred meyer... i think they changed that though later on and did not specify the store to shop at. this is long ago early 90's.. so lol things do change!!

need more ripples...

Agreed...

I had a lady in front of me once who was 18 bucks short and was picking out items to put back...I covered the 18 bucks.

I'd rather risk the $$$$ than leave the store wondering if she really couldn't afford that 18 bucks or in this case the 7 bucks for a can of formula.

It's amazing how good comes back to you when you look for the good in others. What's the worst that can happen..ya give up a few bucks...

ripples are good