Get That Holiday Mango Home!

At The Checkout, Australia, Grocery Store, Holidays, Inspirational, Kind Strangers, New South Wales, Pay It Forward, Sydney | Friendly | December 24, 2020

It’s Christmas Eve, so everyone and their dog is at the shops getting food and last-minute presents, etc. I am there with two small children. I’ve been to a couple of shops already and my EFTPOS card has been working fine, but now, at the checkout, with $100 worth of groceries and kids who are losing their patience, my card keeps getting declined for some reason. The cashier has run it a few times now, and I have explained that it was previously working, but the machine just keeps saying “declined.”

There is a line of about ten people behind me. I’m about to cry in frustration while my one-year-old tries to climb out of the trolley seat for a cuddle and my three-year-old has found the mangoes and is starting to eat one, skin and all, when the woman behind me speaks up.

Woman: “Here, let me just pay for it. Merry Christmas.”

Before I could even protest or anything, she handed over her card and the cashier put it through. I thanked her profusely, wished her and everyone else a Merry Christmas, and got my kids out of there. I went to an ATM, got $100 out, and gave it to one of the charity collectors, and then I got us all home.

I’m still not sure if the woman’s primary objective was to do something nice or to just get the line moving so she could get home herself, but either way, she was kind, gracious, and generous and I will never forget that, and it’s certainly made me more aware of trying to help other people around me.

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for December 2020!