It's the Little Things...

On the way home from work, I stopped at Safeway on Solano to pick up some pork chops. As I was plopping them down on the conveyor belt and tucking my handbasket into the one already on the ground, I thought I glimpsed something in the basket below. I removed my basket and saw a huge Hershey bar with almonds lying flat on the bottom of the basket, camouflaged against the black plastic of the basket.

I handed it to Larry, the cashier, who was about to scan the items for the tall man in front of me. The woman who had just paid for her groceries saw it and realized it had been in her basket but she must have left it behind.

"Oh, that was mine," she said apologetically, and started to dig around for the billfold she'd just dropped in her purse.

"Let me pay for it," offered the tall man in front of me.

The woman looked embarrassed and tried to say no, but the man told Larry to scan it quickly so she couldn't pay for it. Larry scanned it and handed it to the surprised woman who turned to her generous benefactor and, at first, didn't seem to know what to say.

"Just pay it forward some time," he said.

She thanked him and nodded, adding, "I'm taking it to some kids at school tomorrow."

After they'd both gone, Larry said to me, "That was Chuck—he's a good guy."

I agreed with a big smile.

And as I walked out of , I thought how wonderful it was that such a small kindness made not only that woman happy, but me and Larry too. And Chuck looked pretty pleased as well. An ordinary errand had made my day.

Thank you, Chuck.