I was in line at Aldi and this girl with two toddlers in front of me had her card declined and she looked so fucking sad and saidĀ ālet me call my husband real quickā and it was only 18 dollars, so I just paid for it, and she was very sweet and then as she walked off, the lady behind me said `āYou know that was probably a scam, right?ā and like, even if it was, like what a sad fucking scam, right? 18 dollars at the Aldi. If youāreĀ āscammingā me for some Tyson chicken and apple juice and cauliflower, then just take my fucking money.Ā
āA scamā people are fucking wild.Ā Ā
This happened to me, too. A woman had used WIC for the majority of her stuff (which I say from personal experience is such a long and embarrassing process) and to buy the remainder of her groceries, which included diapers and wipes, she used a card, and it got declined. I bought the other $30 of her groceries because hey, Iāve been there, and now Iām not. She was extremely emotional and began to cry and even hugged me. My mom called me on the drive home and could tell I had been crying myself, asked what was wrong, and when I told her what happened, she berated me for being āduped.ā I couldnāt believe she could be so disappointed in one of her children for doing something- nice? Is that the hill you want to die on? Getting mad about people needing groceries?
I once paid for a womanās bill at the vetā¦it wasnāt a big one, but she was trying to pay for some medication for her dog, and her card was declined. And her lip started trembling, and she saysĀ āI donāt get paid until Tuesday, would he be ok until then?āĀ
So I just told them to add the $20 something onto my bill, and I thought she was going to break down crying right there.
And I donāt care if it was a scam or not. Just do nice things for people sometimes.Ā
Do good recklessly.
I think āDo good recklesslyā would be fantastic word art to hang on oneās wall. Artistic people, go!
So this has happened to me but from the other side. Several years ago when my oldest was around three or so, I had my debit card decline at Walmart. It wasnāt a scam or a mistake, I was genuinely broke. Out of money. I checked my bank and discovered I had something like 7 dollars left to my name and a hungry kid and nothing to eat at home. So I sat there trying to come up with the best way to stretch that tiny amount of money to feed my kid. Not even to feed me. I can live on popcorn or something if I have to but my kid was three and he had to eat. So there I am trying really hard not to cry while I slowly take things out of my basket to get it down to under 7 bucks, when a lady tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up and she smiled at me and started putting the things back in my cart. I opened my mouth to tell her that I didnāt have the money for them but she stopped me right away and said āDonāt worry about it. Itās gonna be fine.ā Then she handed the cashier her credit card and said āRing up all of it.ā My kid got to eat because of her. I got to eat because of her. I had laundry soap and deodorant because of her. She couldāve just ignored me silently struggling in that line. She couldāve decided I was a scam and gone home feeling good about avoiding being duped. But instead she chose to help me and she saved us. So maybe the person struggling in front of you is trying to put one over on you or maybe they are just sad and broke and trying to figure out what to do. You get to decide which you want to believe and what you want to do. But Iāll tell yāall, no one has ever been more beautiful to me than that lady in that line who saved me and my baby. Be like her. Be beautiful.
Do good recklessly
DO BETTER. BE BETTER. STRIVE TO BE BETTER.
DO GOOD RECKLESSLY
One time, my dad and I were living the grocery store and there was a guy outside asking for money to buy some stuff to take home for his kids. It was around Christmas time. My dad asked him if he could give him groceries instead of money, and the guy immediately said yes, so my dad gave him one of everything we bought (meat, rice, some chocolates, milk, oil). At that time, my dad hadnāt gotten his paycheck because the company he worked for was going through a tough time, but he didnāt care, he saw an opportunity to help someone and he did.
Another time, my dad gave 50 bucks to a guy who said he needed to buy medicine for his kids. I told my dad he was probably going to spend the money on alcohol or something, but my dad said that āwhether he was lying or not says something about HIS character, but hearing someone in need and choosing not to help when I have the means to says something about mineā.
I never forget that.
Can we make Do good recklessly The slogan on 2019
Do Good Recklessly
Because if anything this is the year we need it more than ever.
Do Good Recklessly 2021.
I assigned this book Humankind to my students this year and it had its good points and its bad points but one of the things it said at the end is that we have to learn to be okay with being scammed once in a while, because our fear of being scammed is interfering with our ability to be kind to each other, and really, what are we so afraid of? That other people will think we are stupid? How awful that we have a society where weāre more scared of being thought stupid than being thought cruel.
