While we were grocery shopping last week, an incident occurred that has stayed with me. The last few months we have put ourselves on a budget in order to be debt free which means the majority of our grocery shopping is now being done at Winco. We bought our groceries and were heading out to the car when a young woman stepped into our path. At first we weren't quite sure what she was trying to tell us until I caught phrases like "single mom" "unemployed" and "hungry children." I have to say that at first I was skeptical of her story and assumed she was trying to con us out of money so she could go buy alcohol or cigarettes. In my mind, I pictured the woman outside of our local Costco who uses a sign to guilt people into giving her money she clearly doesn't need. My first thought was that this young woman would do better to beg at Costco than at Winco, where most people are trying to find a good bargain. I'm not proud to confess that I hid behind my husband so he would have to be the one to deal with her.
As I watched her, I realized that she looked nothing like the woman outside of Costco. The woman in front of us looked like it might have been awhile since she had a good meal. It was possible her story could be true...
David told her we were on a budget but he offered her some of the bananas we'd bought. To our surprise she took them. As we left the parking lot we saw her talking to another customer...still holding tightly to the bananas.
I know that there are a lot of people out there who will try to take advantage of us but I have come to realize that not every "down on our luck" story is necessarily untrue. As sad as it was that this woman had to beg for the sake of her children, I realized that she was not the only recipient of a gift. She gave us something back too. She restored my hope that not everyone is looking for a financial handout.
