I took Ashleigh to the supermarket on the weekend. (I can’t wait to get my Super Fun Mum of the Year Award.)
I was putting Ashleigh in a trolley at the entrance, and taking my shopping list from my handbag, when a gorgeous little old lady started talking to us.
Ashleigh did her shy girl routine at first, but quickly opened up and started talking to her. “Mummy’s got a baby in her tummy.” “I’m a big sister now.” “I’m going to have a baby brother.” “He doesn’t have a name yet. Not until he comes out.” And so on.
She accompanied us around the store, and I let her. It was nice to see Ashleigh talking to someone else and, I’ll admit, it was nice not to have to entertain her for a change.
At first, I didn’t realise that she wasn’t simply smitten with my daughter, but had another reason for coming with us.
We started at the soft drink aisle, where I had to buy a box of Coke cans for a party. I went to get them and was stopped. “Let me get that, love. You shouldn’t be lifting heavy things when you’re this far along.”
I looked at the lady again. Yes, my first impression had been correct. Little. Old. Frail-looking. Half my height. Half my current weight. Possibly even half my usual weight.
And, clearly, oh-so-very-lovely.
I told her that I was fine. That I could lift it. That I still had two months to go and was only going to get bigger.
And she smiled and heaved the box into the trolley.
Fair enough. They were heavy.
We got to the toilet paper aisle. She saw me reaching for our preferred brand, swooped in, and lifted the rolls into the trolley. With not a word said about it.
I was about to say something about being able to handle toilet rolls, but the look on her face stopped me. She was happy. Enjoying herself.
And so it continued. She continued chatting to Ashleigh as she fetched us laundry powder and dishwashing liquid. Water crackers and Cruskits, Corn Flakes and Rice Bubbles. Rice. Pasta. Milk. Yoghurt. Chocolate (of course). Bread. Mince.
She then came with us to the checkout where she loaded everything onto the conveyor belt for me, then followed us to our car, where she lifted all of our shopping bags into the boot.
She even sympathetically tsk-tsked that I was the one doing the shopping when my husband should have come and done it. (At which point I had to stop her and firmly say that no, I had left him at home, precariously balanced on a ladder removing insulation from our ceiling, and that I most certainly had the easier task of the day.)
I turned to thank her profusely for her help and tell her how lovely she was and how special she’d made me feel. But she wasn’t done. She handed me a dollar coin and insisted on returning the trolley to the store. She then smiled at Ashleigh, told her to look after her mum and her baby brother, and left.
Left me gobsmacked.
Have you had someone go out of their way to help you? Have you gone out of your way to help someone else who needed it?
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[…] Tuesday, I was still gobsmacked from my experience on the weekend. Some people go out of their way to help a pregnant woman.But it reminded me that others do not. In fact, some people ignore a pregnant woman doing […]
Wow. You really don’t hear about that everyday. She went above and beyond, how gorgeous. And a great life lesson for your daughter too.
#teamIBOT
Yes, Ashleigh has been asking about her since then so we’ve been able to talk about how nice it was, and how nice it is to do things for others.
Oh my goodness! That brings a tear to my eye to know hat someone woud be so nice and help! Not very often do we hear of these lovely moments! Thanks for sharing!
Pleasure. I love sharing the feelgood stories. (Today’s [Jan 31] post notwithstanding!)
aaah, the random act of kindness. It costs nothing, and is the most precious thing you can give or receive.
Restores your faith in mankind, doesn’t it?
You deserve it.
It certainly does! More than makes up for the less fun ‘mankind sucks’ moments.
Great to hear that your house is so cool that your husband has to remove all the insulation.
Also relieved that the little old angel didn’t then offer
to come and climb the ladder and do that as well.
Haha, I wish! He’s removing it from above the now gutted front bedrooms, bathroom and linen cupboard.
And yes, I may have had a hard time stopping her if Cameron was also pregnant. Luckily, he’s not. That I know of.
What a lovely experience, I love reading ‘feel good’ stories, they are far and few in between 🙂
Happy to be able to provide them!
WOW – that is was definitely a random act of kindness!
Certainly was!
That is such a wonderful story and I’m glad to hear that there are still people out there that care.
They are out there! They can be found!
Oh my gosh, how wonderful. Last week I had an old lady tell me (as I was walking through she shops with a crying, kicking toddler) that I was doing a good job and not to worry about the bumps in the road. Totally made my day. Love, love hearing of kindness stories.
That’s so lovely! I would be grateful for less eye-rolling, let alone someone actually saying that I was doing a good job!
Oh my gosh! What an amazing old lady! Did you ever see her again? You know what, she would have gotten so much joy out of doing that. Bless her. What a lovely little lady x
I haven’t seen her again, and I still shop at that same supermarket. I agree, I think she enjoyed it immensely.
Isn’t that lovely? I think that’s great…
Certainly is. Made my day. Week. Month.
oh this is wonderful. This womens actions has made me teary. I must be hormonal, but still. The kind actions of a stranger can be overwhelming. You must of looked huge and helpless. xS
I did. I put on more than 30kg each pregnancy. And the cankles mean I had a horrible waddle well before the bump demanded one!
I LOVE little old ladies. They love to take the time to interact. I feel for them in this world, everyone rushing around.
Rush rush rush, I hear you!
Holy moly! That is crazy awesome! Your story has just given me the best feeling and buzz about a humanity I certainly had thought had lost its way. Little moments like this (although this is huge!) can shift the way the world spins. Thank you for linking this up to #convocofee – made my day to read this xx Josefa
So glad it made your day! I hadn’t read this for a while and it’s been fun to revisit. It was surreal!
This happens all the time where I live. Genuine, regular acts of random kindness. I moved here from Sydney and literally had to re-train myself to recognise that people WANTED to help me (pregnant with a toddler) and that I also had to learn how to ACCEPT that help rather than having a “no thanks, I’m right” knee-jerk reaction. It was so alien to me. I just accept this kind of kindness and courtesy as a given these days. It’s so lovely.
That sounds WONDERFUL! It would be great if we all lived in a world where we could take that sort of thing for granted.