Never
Judge Someone
'Some people!' snorted a man standing some
distance
behind me in the long line at the grocery
store.
'You would think the manager would pay
attention and
open another line, 'said a woman. I looked
to the
front of the line to see what the hold up
was and saw
a well dressed, young woman, trying to get
the machine
to accept her credit card. No matter how
many times
she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting
it.
'It's one of them welfare card things. Damn
people
need to get a job like everyone else,' said
the man
standing behind me. The young woman turned
around to
see who had made the comment. 'It was me,'
he said,
pointing to himself.
The young lady's face began to change
expression.
Almost in tears, she dropped the welfare
card onto the
counter and quickly walked out of the store.
Everyone
in the checkout line watched as she began
running to
her car. Never looking back, she got in and
drove
away.
Several minutes later a young man walked
into the
store. He went up to the cashier and asked
if she had
seen the woman. After describing her, the
cashier told
him that she had run out of the store, got
into her
car, and drove away.
'Why would she do that?' asked the man.
Everyone in
the line looked around at the fellow who had
made the
statement. 'I made a stupid comment about
the
welfare card she was using. Something I
shouldn't
have said. I'm sorry,' said the man.
'Well, that's bad, real bad, in fact. Her
brother was
killed in Afghanistan two years ago. He had
three
young children and she has taken on that
responsibility. She's twenty years old,
single, and
now has three children to support,' he said
in a very
firm voice.
'I'm really truly sorry. I didn't know,' he
replied,
shaking both his hands about.
The young man asked, 'Are these paid for?'
pointing to
the shopping cart full of groceries. 'It
wouldn't take
her card,' the clerk told him.
'Do you know where she lives?' asked the man
who had
made the comment.
'Yes, she goes to our church.'
'Excuse me,' he said as he made his way to
the front
of the line. He pulled out his wallet, took
out his
credit card and told the cashier, 'Please
use my card.
PLEASE!' The clerk took his credit card and
began to
ring up the young woman's groceries.
Hold on,' said the gentleman. He walked back
to his
shopping cart and began loading his own
groceries onto
the belt to be included. 'Come on people. We
got three
kids to help raise!' he told everyone in
line.
Everyone began to place their groceries onto
the fast
moving belt. A few customers began bagging
the food
and placing it into separate carts. 'Go back
and get
two big turkeys,' yelled a heavyset woman,
as she
looked at the man. 'NO,' yelled the man.
Everyone
stopped dead in their tracks. The entire
store became
quiet for several seconds. 'Four turkeys,'
yelled the
man. Everyone began laughing and went back
to work.
When all was said and done, the man paid a
total of
$1,646.57 for the groceries. He then walked
over to
the side, pulled out his check book, and
began
writing a check using the bags of dog food
piled near
the front of the store for a writing
surface. He
turned around and handed the check to the
young man.
'She will need a freezer and a few other
things as
well,' he told the man.
The young man looked at the check and said,
'This is
really very generous of you.'
'No,' said the man. 'Her brother was the
generous
one.'
Everyone in the store had been observing the
odd
commotion and began to clap. And I drove
home that
day feeling very American.
We live in the Land of the free, because of
the
Brave!!! Remember our Troops of Yesterday
and Today!!!
A great example of why we should be kind and
patient.
Kindness is the language the blind can see
and the
deaf can hear.
Never judge someone...until you have walked
a mile in their shoes.
Author Known To God
Dede's Note:
We must remember God is the one and only
Judge.
He created us all as equals and His only
request was
for us to love one another as He loves us.
We sure ought
to be able to honor that one request!
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