This morning I stopped at a grocery store to buy a few items. Because it was early in the day there was only one cashier working, so I got in line behind some other shoppers. A woman and a man were in front of me, and I noticed the woman look at my cart. She said to the man she was with that they should let me go before them because their cart was full and it would take just a couple of minutes for me to get checked out. He readily agreed. I thanked them and said that was very nice of them. The woman smiled and said people have done that for her before, so it was her turn to do it for someone else.
I cherish such unexpected acts of kindness. I had noticed how full their cart was, and I was feeling some frustration that the store didn’t have more cashiers working. But even so I would not have expected this couple to let me go before them. I understand that people often need to hurry to get to another commitment, and they had already been in line behind other shoppers. And yet they chose to give me this thoughtful and unexpected gift.