Many people have incredibly busy days that require good timing and getting things done fast. This is especially true when you are a parent taking care of children. Something that can derail an entire day is having to go shopping at a large and unpredictable store. You could end up standing in a checkout line for much longer than you expect. The reality is that the reason for a slow-moving line might not always be what you think. This is what happened to Sarah Bigler and her daughter Eloise from Indianapolis, Illinois when they went shopping one day.
Sarah had decided to pick up her daughter Eloise and then drive out to a Target store in Glendale. They quickly gathered up the items they needed and went towards checkout. Sarah was happy to find a checkout counter with just one person at it. She emptied her items on the counter and waited. It was at this point that Sarah noticed the person in line was an elderly woman. She wanted each item rang up individually. She was also paying for everything with change. Sarah said that one part of her “was frustrated with this woman and the inconvenience she had placed on me.” That feeling dissipated moments later.
Sarah realized the clerk was being incredibly kind and patient with the elderly woman. He was helping her count out change, not rushing her and generally being a good person. Sarah then noticed her daughter Eloise was standing next to the elderly woman watching everything happen. Sarah finally realized what she was really witnessing was a lesson in empathy and kindness that her daughter needed to see. Sarah found the manager after leaving checkout to report that the clerk named Ishmael had done an amazingly good deed.
