“Whoops, excuse me,” a man at the Dollar Store murmured softly when he rounded the corner of the toy and school supply aisle quickly and bumped into the large rear wheel of my daughter’s wheelchair. “It’s ok, no worries,” I responded while my daughter flashed a charming, toothy grin that only 7 and 8 year olds can pull off with disproportionate adult teeth emerging. He continued his shopping, and my son, my daughter, and myself continued browsing the toys: negotiating how many dollars equated to how many toys, making selections, and practicing those squirrly skills with money. The skills that teach us how to stick to a budget and plan out purchases. 

 

What seemed like an hour passed in the toy aisle as my son changed his mind 50 times on how he would spend three of his five dollar bills. My daughter and I both started to lose patience. She had two dollars to spend and made her choice of a squishy unicorn in a record minute. We rolled up and down the aisle helping him search for any unseen options in an attempt to hurry his decision. 

 

Eventually he settled on tanks and soldiers, and we headed to the checkout lane. We jumped in line behind an acquaintance and chatted about our impending purchases. Meanwhile, the gentleman who bumped my daughter’s wheelchair took the place behind us in line. We all completed our purchases. Our acquiance and the man behind us left the store and stopped to purchase Girl Scout cookies at the front of the building. Meanwhile, my son had the epiphany that the change he received from his store purchases could be used at the small toy and gumball machines conveniently placed at the end of the checkout lanes. 

 

“Look at all these nickels, Mom! I can put these in the machines!” he explained with glee. I sighed and said, “Yep, those quarters could buy another toy.” I rolled my daughter to the front of the store to make sure there was enough room for other customers to maneuver if they came to the checkout lane. 

 

As my son slotted the nickels, really known as quarters, into one of the machines, a woman walked into the store and approached the young clerk who stood at the checkout register. The clerk looked up as he saw her. 

 

“Hey, did you leave your wallet?” he asked her.

 

“Yes! I think I left it here earlier. Have you seen it anywhere?” she said. Her face showed deep concern. 

 

“I saw you here earlier and remembered that you come in sometimes,” he said, making a dash for the staff closet. The clerk pulled a small zippered bag off of the counter in the closet and returned to the check out lane. “You left it at the register, and we didn’t notice it right away. I put it away in case you came back. Here you go,” he said, handing it to her.

 

“Thank you!” the lady replied looking greatly relieved.

 

The clerk beamed with a glowing smile, and the lady left the store with her found wallet. I smiled at the clerk and said, “That was awesome.” 

 

My son, daughter, and I left the store and started towards the car. A woman met us just outside the door of the store.

 

“A man bought two boxes of Girl Scout cookies for you and your kids,” she said.

 

“Oh, wow, no way!”

 

“Yay!” exclaimed my son.

 

In her unique way to express excitement, my daughter blew a delighted raspberry. 

 

At that moment, a friend came to purchase Girl Scouts cookies with her daughter and husband. Breathlessly, I filled her in on the many events that had taken place in a few short minutes: the wheelchair bump, the lost wallet, and the cookie gift. As I wrapped up the chain of events, the idea to give the clerks inside $20 each came to mind, in the spirit of Pay It Forward. I asked my friend if she thought it was odd to pay the kindness of the cookies forward to the clerks who showed responsibility and care to an elder? 

 

She replied, “If someone handed me $20 at 19 or 20 for doing a good deed, I would have happily accepted it.”

 

With her reassurance, I returned inside the store to hand the young men $20. 

 

“You really cared for the lady who left her wallet,” I said, handing them the $20 bills. “Here’s something to thank you for handling the lost wallet the way that you did. A man that was in here bought my kids cookies, so I thought I’d tell you well done. There was a lot of kindness swirling around the Dollar Store. I’m glad to witness it today.”

 

“Are you sure?” he responded. “This is awesome.”

 

“Very sure,” I said, waving and walking out of the store back to rejoin my kids at the Girl Scout table. 

By: Kaity Hirst