I'd give you a hug, but social distancing and all

I’d spent the whole day crying while at work, but luckily none of my coworkers noticed.

I kept getting phone call after phone call. I was involved in some sort of fraud. My bank was closing my account. Not just giving me a new debit card, but completely closing the account. I had no access to my money and no idea when I would because my bank had to do the whole process to fully close the account and mail me a check.

And I needed groceries. Like I had almost nothing in my fridge type of needing groceries.

The tears just kept coming.

What am I going to do now?

I had a few dollars in my wallet. I could still stop at the grocery store to get some food on my drive home that would last me for a few days.

So I stopped at the grocery store on my way home.

I spent a few minutes just sitting in my car before going into the store. I needed to gather myself since I had spent the whole day crying, and even the drive crying. The tears just wouldn’t stop coming.

But I also needed to plan what I was going to buy. I got a list of a few things to buy in my head, gathered my composure, then went into the store to get my goods.

This was going to be a quick trip, get what I needed and just go home. I needed to not be around people right now. I just needed space.

I get to the checkout and put my stuff on the belt. The cashier rings it all up. I start counting out my cash. I was $10 short. I could have sworn I had more cash in my wallet. I start pulling items out of bags that the cashier can take off my order.

But the guy behind me says, “Hold on. Stop taking stuff out of your bags. Just add my stuff on to the total. I’ll pay for everything.”

Cue even more tears, but this time it was tears of joy. I didn’t even have words.

He then looks at me and says, “It looks like you’ve already had a bad day and you don’t deserve that. I want to be your savior today. I just ask that when you are in a position to do the same thing that you do it too.”

I tried saying Thank you to this kind gentlemen, but the words just wouldn’t come, only tears.

It had already been quite a day and now this amazingness was happening to me. Something I never thought would ever happen to me. I also never thought I’d ever be in a position to need this to happen to me.

You always read stories about people helping others out in the grocery store.

Hard times happen, but you never think it’s something that would happen to you. You always have this thought in the back of your head that you have things all lined up and the bad stuff won’t happen to you. But then one day it does. And you have no idea how this spiral of bad luck is ever going to end.

But all of a sudden, some kind soul pops up at the grocery store to help you out in a moment of need.

And this kind soul only asked that I repay the favor some day in the future when I was in a position to help someone else out.

For me, that time did come about 6 months later, at the height of the pandemic. So many people had lost their jobs and had no income, so they were suffering for food and money just like I was on that day several months ago.

All of my stuff had been sorted out. I had access to my money again. (Somehow the scammer still found me and kept trying to access my bank account, but thank god for tight bank security. This time I just had to change all of my banking information, not banks.)

I was in that same grocery store buying myself food for the next few weeks.

There was a younger couple in front of me in line with a toddler sitting in their cart. They only had a few items. And it looked like it was all food just for the toddler.

The cashier told them the total. They had 2 WIC checks, but no other money. The checks didn’t cover 3 items they had on the belt. But they didn’t realize that until after the cashier had rung everything up.

I spoke up, “I’ll cover it. Just add my bill to the total.”

The husband said, “Are you sure?”

I replied, “Of course! Someone did just this for me several months ago when I was going through a hard time and he just asked that when the time comes and I am able to, that I pay it forward as well. I’m very happy to help.”

They both thanked me profusely. The woman said, “I would hug you, but there is a pandemic going on and social distancing and all.”

I replied, “You are very welcome. I’m just happy that I’m able to help you.”

They grabbed their items and waited off by the side until I was done paying. While I was in the process of paying, I asked the cashier if she had any gift cards for the grocery store there with her. She did have one. I got a gift card with $100 on it and finished paying.

I knew this couple needed more food. They had only gotten food for the toddler. Since they were waiting for me, I didn’t have to search for them in the parking lot, hoping to catch them.

I gathered all my stuff together and left. I handed the gift card to the couple. At first, the husband tried giving it back. I said, “I know you need this. Please take it. Get yourselves something to eat. You can’t continue to take care of that little one without also taking care of you.”

The woman just started crying. The husband said that they took turns eating one meal a day and always made sure the little one had some food. They were still waiting for their unemployment funds to start coming to them. Again, I insisted they take the gift card and go get themselves some food. They finally did take it.

I was just happy that I was in a position to be able to help this couple. I know there are so many other people out there that were in their same position, but I was only one person.

The biggest thing I learned from this whole experience was that the world really does need a lot more love. It should be normal to want to help out your fellow humans, whether you know them or not.

But instead, almost everyone is focused more on themselves. I know I’m also guilty of this, as well. If it wasn’t for that one day so many months ago when a kind gentleman paid for my groceries because I didn’t have enough cash and had had a horrible day, I would still have been so focused on me, as well.

It only took one person to step up and be the light I’d needed to see to help open my eyes.

Now every time I make a trip to the grocery store, I buy a $50 gift card. Then I hand it to the cashier and tell them to use it when someone falls short on their bill.

Sometimes people just need a few extra dollars. Other times, people need a lot more help. But we are so afraid of asking for help. It makes us appear weak by asking for help. It’s easier to suffer in silence.