A Woman’s Act of Kindness at Rosauers Will NOT Go Unnoticed
With so much negativity in the world, I love stories that are more positive and uplifting and I was fortunate enough to witness one first-hand this weekend.
Now, I'm not store-loyal in Yakima. I enjoy shopping at Wray's if I just need a few things but also find myself shopping at Safeway, Grocery Outlet, Fred Meyer on occasion and Rosauers. Since Walmart had a line to get in and I was already in that West Valley area of town, I figured Rosauers would work just as well. I'm glad I made that decision.
After I grabbed the stuff I needed (milk, eggs, ingredients for a baking project my daughters and I were going to do that night and a few more things making it more than 10 items) I made my way to the checkstands. They had two lanes open and, as I walked up, a couple exited one line in favor for the next line that seemed to have been moving faster. I took their spot behind the lady being rung up.
As I started putting my items on the conveyor belt, the cashier was saying the prices out loud to the lady being rung up. She was wearing pretty thick glasses so maybe she couldn't see the prices as they were being scanned. So nice of the Rosauers employees to go above and beyond to help their guests. Sometimes the lady in line would say a specific item was on a sale price. It would scan and the cashier would say that it rang up for that sale price. She needed a little help and assistance and I didn't mind waiting a little longer for the transaction to happen.
Once all items were scanned, she ran her card and seemed to be having trouble with it. The card didn't scan right or wasn't hitting the right buttons, I'm not sure. I glanced over and saw it was a food assistance card. An EBT card. No shame in that, there's a lot of people in Yakima out of work or furloughed and need food assistance. I was on EBT for my family when I was between jobs so I was glad she was able to get what she needed.
After it scanned, that's when panic set in. The cashier needed an additional $5.40 in cash. The worried lady in line questioned why. They went through the list of items and it turns out one of the items was from the hot deli case. Although, yes, it's food, it doesn't qualify for the EBT program. "But, it's food," she exclaimed but the cashier explained why it didn't work. The lady in line seemed she didn't want to bother making her shopping experience any longer than it needed to be. She started to go through her pocketbook to see if she could scrounge up the cash needed to get her on her way. I wasn't observing directly as I didn't wanna be rude but I could hear everything since it was right next to me.
After about 15 seconds, the couple that were in line in my spot originally were just finishing up their transaction in the other lane. That's when the lady from that couple tapped the cashier on the shoulder, handed her a $10 bill, did the finger to the mouth 'quiet' sign and went back to putting her bagged groceries in her cart.
The cashier told the lady she was helping not to worry about it and that it was taken care of. This made the lady in line more confused. The cashier explained that the nice lady in the other lane helped. They both thanked her several times, The other lady mouthed 'it's okay' and brushed it off.
When the cashier went to hand the lady in the other lane her change, she declined and asked to donate it to the lady in need. This about sent her over the moon. She couldn't believe it.
After it all happened I started thinking to myself 'I could have done that' but everything happened so fast that I didn't think even think about it. The 'journalist' in me thought about taking a photo so I could write this article but when the lady kind of shrugged if off, I didn't think she wanted that kind of attention. I'll sing her praises here while she remains anonymous.
I'm fortunate I'm in a position to share stories like this and didn't want the helpful lady's act of kindness to go unnoticed. Also a shout-out to the wonderful cashiers and staff of not just Rosauers but all grocery stores during this pandemic. I used to work in retail for several years so know it can be a mental strain, especially during a time like this.