16 Kind Stories That Prove a Little Sympathy Goes a Long Way
The forces of goodness don’t only exist in fairy tales. Sometimes ordinary people take on the role of a good fairy and bring miracle into the lives of strangers — by word or deed. These Internet users shared stories like this.
One day while I was working at a fast food joint, this lady left her Louis Vuitton bag on a table. I waited about 20 minutes but remember seeing her leave, and so I grabbed it and put it in lost and found. I never once looked inside.
A month went by. My boss said, “Hey, it’s been a month…do you want that bag?” I said sure and went in the back to retrieve it. I unzipped the top and to my surprise nothing was in it but a piece of paper. I opened up the piece of paper, and it was a receipt for the bag.
On the receipt was a note saying, “To the girl who needed a new purse during the holidays.” Whoever this lady was intended on doing this in the first place. I looked at the receipt….$1700 for this bag!? I carefully put my items in it and took it home and didn’t say another word about it.
That purse made me look good at a ton of job interviews. I still keep the bag because it reminds me of humbling days when I didn’t have much and reminds me to give back to others. Many years ago, when I was first married, we had very little money and were living paycheck to paycheck. My wife was pregnant with our first, and I was working a part-time job. I went to the store a few days before payday to get only what we absolutely needed. Some bread. Some dishwashing soap. I think a jar of mayo. In all, about $10 worth of stuff.
At checkout, I swiped my debit card, hoping it would clear. The cashier deadpanned, “Declined. Try again.” I asked her to put an item back, then I swiped with the new total as a line formed behind me. The cashier, now perturbed, “Declined again.” I hung my head when I swiped that last time, but I was still ashamed when the card was approved for buying that measly loaf of bread.
I took my receipt and slunk out to my car, wanting to disappear, feeling absolutely humiliated, an embarrassment, a failure as a provider. Almost to the car, I heard the voice of a little girl behind me, the girl who was standing with her mother right behind me in line. “Mister! Mister!”
I turned around, and she reached out to hand me a plastic grocery bag. It was filled with the items I had the cashier put back. “It’s okay, we bought this for you.” Surprised, shocked, actually and humbled, I mumbled a “thank you,” walked to my car, put my head on the steering wheel and bawled like a baby. With shame, with gratitude, with the absurdity of the situation, with disappointment in myself as the “breadwinner” yet not being able to take care of basic needs.
It’s been about 25 years, but that memory is still vivid, and I’m still grateful to that little girl and her mom, and I still cry when I think of how such a small act can mean so much for a person in need. Since then, I’ve helped people whenever we could afford it (yep, even in grocery lines).
