-
Holiday generosity in the check-out lane Stranger picks up young family's $177 tab as they stand in line at Walmart. In Dubuque Iowa
- Nov 26, 2009 at 5:12 PM
- By
- Comments (55) Total Views (2465) Everyone can see this journal post.
Holiday generosity in the check-out lane Stranger picks up young family's $177 tab as they stand in line at Walmart. BY MARY NEVANS-PEDERSON TH STAFF WRITER An anonymous shopper recently paid the grocery bill for Jessica Moldenhauer, 21, of Dubuque. Photo by: Jessica Reilly An anonymous shopper recently paid the grocery bill for Jessica Moldenhauer, 21, of Dubuque. She will likely never know who he is, but Jessica Moldenhauer will long remember the kindness one stranger showed her family. Sunday night, after a long day of work, Moldenhauer was doing her twice per month grocery shopping with her son, Donovan, 4, and her boyfriend Charles Bruce. The little family unit was enjoying the outing at Walmart, with Donovan doling out unsolicited kisses to his mom and Bruce, as Moldenhauer, 21, kept a close tally of what was going into her shopping cart. "We had about $150 in our budget for groceries and we knew we would be cutting it close," she said. Both Moldenhauer and Bruce work two jobs but still struggle to make ends meet. When Donovan ran back to the shopping cart with an armful of bananas, which were not on her list, Moldenhauer laughed and took them anyway. She knew there was a little leeway in the food budget. Then she noticed a well-dressed middle-aged man watching the exchange. As the family was checking out, the same man approached them, made small talk and then said, "I want to take care Advertisement of this for you in the spirit of Thanksgiving." He then pulled out two $100 bills and handed them to the clerk to cover the $177 food bill. "My jaw just dropped. We didn't know what to say. We thanked him and shook his hand and he walked back into the store and we walked out," Moldenhauer said. Looking back on the incident, the Dubuque woman wonders about the generous stranger -- did he go looking to do a good deed for someone that day or was he suddenly inspired to do a random act of kindness? "I felt so blessed. You hear about these things happening, but it never happens to you," Moldenhauer said. "That meant more to us than he realized."
Comments:
I love people who are that nice!
I wish there were more people like that in the world! I was touched when a man let me skip him and line and use his tom thumb saving card lol
Aww that's so sweet. An older woman gave our family $20 in the Wal-Mart checkout line once. She said "Put this towards something for that beautiful baby of yours." So sweet!
I was short about $10 one day in the grocery store and I had my 2 stepdaughters and my new baby with me. I was going to put back some stuff for the older girls because I needed formula for the baby and I had no more money. The lady in line behind me paid for the rest of my stuff. I try to pay it forward when I can, even if it paying a toll or for a coffee for the next car in line behind me.
Fantatic. what an inspiring story for this time of year. wonderful!! love it!
my son was 12 weeks early & was a topic of conversation at the hospital because we were at their hospital as evacuees of Katrina. I still don't know who it was but my nurse came in and handed me a $20 bill and said someone had left it at the desk for me. they didnt leave a name, said they heard about us and wanted to help out in some way.
I have done something similar for a family when I was single and saw them in need. Good to know others do it as well.
It wasn't around the holidays, but around the time my son was 1.5 yrs old, I went to buy him milk because we were out. I got the milk and thought I should double check my account balance, just to be sure I had the money. I did not. Not only did I not have enough money for the milk, I had overdrawn my account. I went to the bank counter and asked if I payed for the milk if I would be charged another fee, or if the fee I had already been charged that day would cover it. And I was told I would get another fee ($29). I was almost in tears when I walked away. I was heading back to the milk department to put the milk back, when one of the other tellers at the bank ran up to me and handed me a $20 bill. I've never been so thankful for a gallon of milk in my life. And then, I DID cry.
That's awesome, but this sentence doesn't make any sense;
"I want to take care Advertisement of this for you in the spirit of Thanksgiving." ?
I suppose I could just be tired, but I don't get what the word advertisement is doing in that sentence. LOL
Already a member? Click here to log in
I love reading stories like this. My own family experienced the generosity of a complete stranger a few years back. We were gearing up for Christmas and needed to pick up some groceries at our local grocery when my kids spotted these slices of pie in the deli area. I had only 2 of my children with me at the time, but had more at home. They asked for the pie and I explained it wasn't within my budget that day and I couldn't get it for them. An elderly gentleman must have over-heard our conversation because we landed right behind him in the check out lane where he turned around and handed my children each a dollar bill, just enough for each to get that slice of pie. He continued checking out and announced he had forgotten a purchase and apologized to me while he quickly ran to grab it. He came back with a half gallon of ice cream, purchased it and turned around and gave it to my family. I nearly bawled like a baby. This gentleman explained to us he had no family around to do things like that for, and it would really make his Holiday if we would accept the items. My kids and I will never forget his generosity and when the time comes around, I will pay it forward :)
- Krystallized
Message Friend Invite