Sunday, May 08, 2011

supermarket karma

today i went to the supermarket for some milk, breakfast, lunch etc... nothing out of the ordinary... but as i walked home i had a smile on my face! let me tell you why...

i bought a whole bunch of stuff - including those things i shouldn't have like chocolate biscuits and white choc magnums* - and i got to the checkout to find it wasn't too busy, usually on a sunday supermarkets are queue-tastic! i waited behind this old lady as she and her carer got through their shopping and as i did i saw a guy with an onion and a baguette looking for a place to pay.. now to give you some context i was at the only 'manned' checkout, there were a couple of self-service machines in use as well as the kiosk area for cigarettes, lotto etc but also busy... so i saw this guy and he had a look on his face that i instantly empathized with, the 'oh i only wanted to pop in, buy this onion and baguette and be gone but now i have to wait to pay... ruined' face!

so i caught his eye and waved him over, i said come here, go before me mister! he was reluctant, no, no need.. but i wasn't about to have my good deed turned down! haha i persisted, come on, i said, you have 2 items, it's no big deal, it's your lucky day, go next! after reassuring him i was sure, and this wasn't a trick, or a tv stunt (!) and good for my karma bank haha, he accepted my offer, saying thanks, how he was just parked on double yellows outside and actually how he had to buy fags from the kiosk anyway.. at which point the checkout boy who had obviously overheard the goings on piped up - which ones do you want? he was waiting to serve the next person (me or the dude) but was waiting patiently for the very elderly lady in front to get going... the random guy was incredulous - asked for the brand he wanted and the kid popped across to the kiosk to grab them for him... he said wow this really is my lucky day to which i reminded him it was only 12 noon so plenty of time for some other great stuff to happen to him!

it's a shame that this was such a surprise to him, hopefully he will return the random act of kindness to another human being some time soon and the ripple effect will make the world a little nicer for everyone :)

jeez i'm SUCH a hippy these days! lol

but anyways, i can totally recommend doing a stranger a good turn**, it cheered me right up and i was smiling all the way home***



*omg it's a good job i go to the gym!
**in my experience the reaction isn't always as good as this one was but it's worth the punt people!
***and not just cos i now had choccie biccies ;)

No comments: