I was looking at canned fruit at Food Lion last week. Not usual for me, but so much fruit is out of season right now. And I wanted some peaches. There are at least three different kinds of canned peaches plus two different brands on the shelf. No, not the sugar free…fake sugar is yuck! No, not the peaches in heavy syrup. Too sweet. Ah, there it is, peaches in light syrup. That’s the one. Just right!
I was there long enough that a woman came up to me and said, “Excuse me, I hate to ask you…” and then proceeded to ask me for money. She had a few items in her cart…cans of chili, some bananas, maybe a loaf of bread. She started to relay a whole story about who wasn’t showing up with food stamps and who wasn’t answering the phone. As I handed her the money she said, “and you can follow me to the checkout.”
In that moment, I wasn’t remotely interested in watching her check out. We talked about peaches. We both put the same can in our cart and went our separate ways. Halfway down the same aisle this was the conversation I had with myself.
Me: Was I just swindled?
Also me: Doesn’t matter. You gave her the money.
Me again: I wonder if I’ll find her abandoned cart in the next aisle.
…Or the next aisle.
…Or near the checkout line.
I never saw the cart or the woman again.
I don’t regret giving her the money. I don’t even care if she bought those groceries or used it for something else. On my way home, I thought about how much courage it must have taken to ask for money from a stranger. I’m not sure I could do it. Maybe if I was desperate enough. Maybe she was desperate. I also thought about what a privileged life I have. How I can buy whatever I want at the grocery store, take it home in a nice car and put it all away in cabinets already filled with food.
Feeling humble
Paula
