A Sweet Gesture

(I am at the register. An older lady, visibly shaken up, approaches me.)

Me: “Can I help you, ma’am?”

Lady: “Yes, about half an hour ago, I bought my groceries here.” *shows me her receipt* “But when I was in the aisle, one of my bags broke. And to have my hands free I put this bar of chocolate in the pocket of my coat. I didn’t notice it until a few minutes ago.”

Me: “So you’ve come back… to pay for it?”

Lady: “Yes, I feel awful about it.”

Me: “Wow…  Just, wow. You are the first person to do that since I have worked here. I didn’t know people would do that!”

(I finished her transaction. If it hadn’t been company policy to not give things away, I would have given the chocolate to her for free. Thanks, lady, for showing there are decent, albeit unusual, people out there.)