Where's my silver lining??

After a half-hour long car ride with my screaming little guy (he had just woken up from his nap and was not happy for some reason still unbeknownst to me,) we finally made it to the grocery store.  I had spent all morning planning this shopping trip: had my grocery list, my coupons, and was kind of excited.  There were some great deals that I didn't want to miss out on.

We get into the store, and all is going smoothly.  I easily located the kiwis, the monkey's favorite, and started grabbing all of the other stuff we needed.  You know: milk, bread, sandwich meat, tuna... the staples.  That's when my rotten kid decided that he'd had enough of the store and was bored.  Around this time, he starts yelling at random strangers nearby, taking my grocery list and throwing it, and trying to grab whatever he can reach off of the shelves.  

I had most of what was on my list, so at that point I figured that it was good enough and I was ready to get him out of there.  We head up to the register, and begin checking out.


That's when the real fun began.  Sammy started screaming and trying to unbuckle himself from the cart, and I made mistake number 1.  I got him out and tried holding him while the cashier rang up our items.  After about 5 minutes of watching her struggle to input coupons (I think she must have been new) we were finally ready to pay.


Swipe card, enter pin... 

"WHAT?!?!" 


For some reason my card wouldn't go through, even though I checked the balance right before we had left and knew there was more than enough to cover the groceries.


Silly me had put the card back in my purse after entering my pin, so the next 5 minutes were spent trying to find it again while the monkey is "helping" by grabbing everything in there and tossing it to the ground.  I set him down for a second, and he takes off running past the lady behind us so I had to stop what I was doing and chase after him, apologizing profusely as I went.  At last I had him back on my hip, card back in hand, and tried again.


Swipe card, enter pin...


"I'm sorry ma'am, the computer is showing that you have a zero balance and cannot use this form of payment."


So the manager gets called over, my face is beet red and I'm trying my hardest not to cry or scream... I have no idea what is going on because I KNOW there is money in the account.


"Don't worry, I've got it."  The lady that was behind me in line, who saw all of it, reassured me that she had been in a similar situation before and was happy to help me out.  Before I could refuse, she paid for my groceries and sent me on my way.  She wouldn't give me her number so I could pay her back, nor did she make a big deal out of it.

Dear lady, you are an angel among assholes.  Pardon my language, but never have I seen such generosity in this small town.  She restored my faith in humanity, and I am forever in her debt for saving me at the grocery store.  


Random acts of kindness such as she displayed, make me want to be a better person.  This woman, whom I have never met before, graciously offered help where none other would, all while refusing payment.  My pride wanted to refuse, but my need to make sure my son had milk accepted.  I have never been more embarrassed, nor more grateful.  


Thank you sweet lady, I will never forget your generosity.