Y’all, this kind man right here is Barry. He paid for my groceries after I realized I had left my wallet in Emmy’s diaper bag. The cashier had already scanned everything and gave me the total. When I couldn’t find my wallet, both the cashier and the bagger kindly offered to hold my order and put all the cold food in a cooler so I could go home and come back later.
I told them I lived over 20 minutes away, and by the time I got home and returned with the kids, at least an hour would have passed. It was already 7:00, and we hadn’t even eaten dinner yet. I gave up and figured I’d just order everything online and pick it up the next day.
I know there are people going through much worse, but in that moment, I felt totally overwhelmed. My husband had just left for Texas and would be gone for two weeks, and there was still so much to take care of. My son had just helped me load everything onto the checkout belt and kept asking me what was wrong.
Frustrated and upset with myself, I said through clenched teeth, “I don’t have my wallet; we have to leave.”
That’s when Barry stepped in and asked, “How much is it?” I tried to say no several times, but he insisted. So I told him the total. He handed his card to the cashier and looked at me and said, “I’ve been there before. I understand. My wife passed away recently, and if she were still here, she’d want me to help you. So I’m doing this for her, too.”
It might have felt a little awkward to ask for a photo, but he truly was my hero tonight. Barry reminded me that there are still good, kind people in the world.
Credit: Becky Loos