Renovate A Happy Place

It’s around Christmas time and I’m finishing up my last-minute Christmas shopping at my local big-chain grocery store.

As I’m waiting in line to pay for my few items, I notice the man in front of me. He’s an older gentleman, probably in his late fifties. He’s talking with the cashier, obviously excited about something. I come to find out that he’s buying stuff for his new apartment, the first one he’s ever had. He’s telling her that he’s a recovering alcoholic and addict who has finally, FINALLY gotten clean, gotten a job, and gotten his life together enough to get off the streets and into a place he can actually call his own.

I smile to myself as I listen to this man gush in excitement about decorating his new place… until it comes time for him to cash out. I guess the total is a bit more than he planned on because he asks the cashier to put some stuff back. He sounds so sad that my heart breaks. I don’t have any cash on hand to help him, but I do have a plan.

As soon as he walks away toward the entrance to wait for the bus, I ask the cashier to add the items he didn’t buy to my own order. At first, she looks confused, but I quickly say:

Me: “I want to buy those for him. Can you make it fast so I can catch him before his bus gets here?”

Y’all, I’ve never seen a cashier move so fast in my life! I rush to the entrance and thankfully, he’s still there.

I walk right up to him, hand him the two bags of stuff had to put back, and tell him:

Me: “Happy holidays.”

The look on his face when he realized what I had given him was worth more than the small amount I had spent.