'Pay it Forward' Moment at Milford ShopRite Touches Milford Woman

By Brian McCready, Milford Patch Editor

We’ve all heard the “Pay it Forward” slogan but it’s not every day that phrase comes to life, but that’s what happened Wednesday in Milford.

Milford’s Janet Golden, a two-term Democratic aldermen, was waiting in line to pay for her groceries at ShopRite when the mundane nature of that moment turned special.

Golden went searching for her credit card to pay for the $50 worth of groceries when a moment of panic struck.

Golden realized that she had given her husband the credit card to pay for something else the other day and now she had no cash or credit card to pay for groceries. She called her husband but he didn’t pick up the phone.

Golden said she felt awful and since there was a line of customers behind her, she told the cashier to cancel out her order and she would come back later to pay for the groceries.

Then, all of a sudden, a man standing behind her in line said, ‘I’d like to pay for it.”

Golden said she asked the man, did he really want to pay for $50 worth of groceries? And he did.

The tears then flowed and Golden said she was touched by the man’s generosity.

He told her he just wanted to “pay it forward.”

Golden didn’t even know the man’s name but said he told her that he was once at a highway toll with no money and someone paid it for him. He said that’s what inspired him to “pay it forward” and buy her groceries.

“I couldn’t believe someone was so kind and sincere,” Golden said. “I have no words.”

Golden said she shared the story on her Facebook page and is hoping to get the word out so it may inspire others to pay it forward.

“I hope people will read this and it will lead to random acts of kindness,” Golden said. “Just a smile can mean so much. Let this be a sweet lesson to us all to pay it forward.”

Photo: Janet Golden