The Ever-Growing Size Of Your Heart

(It’s fall, and we’re expecting it to be a cold early winter. I had previously made a comment to one of my managers about being worried about lack of money to buy winter apparel for my son, which is a large concern being a single mom in a minimum wage position. I’m at work when a supervisor who has a young daughter strikes up a conversation.)

Supervisor: “Oh, my goodness, my daughter is growing like a weed. It needs to stop.”

Me: “I know, right? They grow up too fast.”

Supervisor: “I know. So, what size is your son in now?”

Me: “Oh, he’s gotten so big. He’s in a ‘small boys’ now. Thankfully he’s only tall so he fits in a better range.”

Supervisor: “Yeah, my daughter is the same way, tall and thin. So, what shoe size does he wear?”

Me: “13 or 1, depending on the brand.”

Supervisor: “Oh, yeah, I know how it is. Some brands are too small.”

(It’s at this time I have to step away to help a customer at the cash registers but it’s only a couple hours later that another manager comes to me while I’m on register and tells me to turn off my light and meet her at the jewelry counter. After finishing up with my customer I head to the jewelry counter to find the manager who told me to meet her and the manager mentioned previously, at the jewelry register making a purchase. Manager #1 smiles at me and hands me a large bag.)

Manager #1: “Here you go; you mentioned not being able to afford winter things for your son.”

(Inside the bag was a winter jacket, snow pants, new boots, winter hat, and gloves. It was at this point I started crying and hugging both the managers. It came out that the supervisor had been in on this, and had been fishing for information with her small talk. Not even twenty minutes later, after calming down, my HR manager came through my line at the register and bought new cold weather pants and socks for my son. I couldn’t even cry at this because I still had customers and she walked away, telling me to pick up the clothes in her office. There may be issues at my work but my managers and supervisors are the best.)