A little back story: Saturday, Dave and I spent all day running around to all stores that carry baby things pricing and buying items we still needed for Olivia. We went to every store imaginable, Babies R Us, two Toys R Us stores, Target, Ikea, Wal-Mart, Burlington Baby Depot and Hobby Lobby (for some nursery decorations.) I had a blast, and Dave was a champ during all of the baby shopping, he was even good about doing the obligatory "aaawwws." One of the important items that we still needed at this point was the crib mattress, but we wanted to see what all was out there before we actually bought the mattress. We finally decided on a Sealy mattress that was at Wal-Mart and we decided that we would go back on Sunday to get the one we wanted.
Sunday morning came and I decided to go to Wal-Mart alone while Dave stayed home and watched football. I was almost completely done with my shopping at Wal-Mart, and I was looking for the last item on my list, syrup. My cart looked pretty full at this point with the crib mattress poking out along with all of the other things I was picking up; maneuvering the cart was fun.
I was trying to push pass a couple of other carts in the syrup aisle when this one lady steered around my cart and seemed like she was in quite the rush. She then looped the aisle we were on and came back around the aisle towards me. She pushed her cart right up next to my big ol' cart and approached me. She then proceeded to stuff a 20-dollar bill in my hand and said, "take this." I was quite shocked, checked my pockets (even though I knew I wasn't carrying any cash in them) and said, "Oh, I didn't drop that." This woman explained to me that I must take this 20-dollar bill because she knows that baby beds are expensive. I was really caught off guard, and was taken aback for a second. Lots of different thoughts ran through my head such as, was she serious? Do I look homeless? (I was wearing my pink crocs....) Does this woman think I'm entering parenthood as a single mother? Do I really look that pitiful with my big cart and my big belly and at the store alone? Does she think I'm a teen mom??? I told her, "wow, thank you, but I really can't take that."
She then explained that she is a mother of three and knew how expensive babies can be, that she was done having children and she really wanted me to take this money. So, I took the money and genuinely thanked her and was truly touched. I stood there for a second trying to process everything, and she rushed off down the aisle, just like that. I thanked her again as she was walking away. Then, I made the biggest effort to rush out of the store and pay as quickly as I could so I would not have to run into her again. That would have been awkward.
This was all a very strange exchange, but at the same time I was touched. Looking back I wish I would have at least asked her name. For the rest of the afternoon I felt really good about humanity. There are good, thoughtful people in the world, and that's nice to be able to experience firsthand. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to pay it forward to someone else. Additionally, there were about 5 different people who offered to help me to my car when I was checking out. The mattress, although awkward, was not heavy at all, so I would politely decline, but it was the thought that mattered.
In the end, baby's bed is ready to go with the loving touch of my parents, Dave and I, and the kind stranger at Wal-Mart who felt the desire to chip in 20 bucks:
