The Sweet Reason a Stranger in Target Bought a Stressed-Out Mom a Candle
Erin Bennett isn't opposed to be treating herself at the store every once in a while, so the mom admits that she always places her items at the end of the shopping belt and ends up having to put them back once she's hit her family's "grocery budget limit." On a recent trip to Target with two of her kids, the mom of four watched as the cashier rang up her items and realized she'd have to put back the pumpkin spice candle and makeup she picked up for herself. Enter: the sweetest stranger, who could sense that this stressed-out mama needed a win.
In a post to Facebook, the grateful mom penned a note to the kind man behind her in the checkout line.
You didn't know that I always save my stuff for last and usually end up putting it back. You didn't know that the two fussy kids I had with me were only two out of four. You didn't know that I have postpartum depression from the youngest babe and that I use scent as a way to boost my mood. You didn't know that this week has been full of sick kids, parent teacher conferences, emergency dental visits and I was so looking forward to lighting that candle at nap time and just taking a minute to relax.
Even without knowing that, you saw me. You saw me as a human, not just the mom in front of you that was distracted and going way too slow. You heard me say that I'd like to put those items back and you said you were getting them. You didn't take no for an answer. You told me I deserved it when I started to tear up.
Before ending her post by encouraging people to share it in the hopes that the stranger will see her additional expression of thanks, Erin assured the man that his kind gesture was about so much more to her than a pumpkin spice candle. "You, sir, are the good in the world," she wrote. "You made my day, probably my week, and I WILL pay it forward. Thank you so much for your kind heart and words."