My husband took off work today (and this coming Monday) so that we could pick up a few last minute holiday gifts and get everything wrapped and ready for Christmas. Of course he took time off so we could spend quality time together as well. We so rarely get to go on “dates”. A date doesn’t have to be at night. We had breakfast together at the diner this morning and I consider that a date. 🙂
The other day I ordered two cork boards and two magnetic dry erase boards for our kids. Both measured 17″ x 23″. We thought the kids would have fun hanging up pictures, notes and anything else they can think of. They have been asking for cork boards for a long time. I thought the dry erase boards would be fun too.
I checked around and found that the best price was from a local store. For some odd reason they would not ship to our home. Instead we had to physically go to th store to pick them up. I don’t know why. We’ve ordered larger items there were shipped to our home. It was certainly an inconvenience to have to drive all the way over to the store to get them.
We tried to make the most of the trip and picked up a few “odds and ends” before going to pick up the items I ordered.Â
OH MY GOODNESS! What a TOTAL NIGHTMARE. I don’t even know where to begin.
–Â The line was long and the employees were SLOW. Painfully slow. Often disappearing for long periods of time.
–Â They were totally disorganized. They didn’t have a good system. They were running around like “chicken without heads”.
–Â When I FINALLY got to speak with someone they couldn’t find my order. Of course that took even MORE time while the employee tried to find my order.
–Â Next, their equipment wouldn’t work so it took even longer to find my order.
–Â For some odd reason they didn’t have my order. It wasn’t necessarily something I could just come and pick up. THEY would run around the store to get the things I ordered and paid for. DUH!!! I could have done that and saved myself a serious headache!
–Â The employee disappeared for about 20+ minutes to go pick up the stuff I ordered and paid for. When she didn’t return I actually went looking for her. The cork boards and dry erase boards were only a few aisles away from the pick up counter. Not only that I know for a fact they didn’t have them because we looked for them before going to pick up the order.
–Â After all this they DIDN’T have the things I ordered and paid for, so they had to cancel my order and refund the money to my gift card. Of course their equipment wasn’t working AGAIN so I had to wait. By now the manager got involved.
–Â When I asked for a receipt to show that the money ws refunded that only added to the frustration because apparently I asked for the impossible. Sigh…
–Â The whole time this is going on other employees are standing around doing nothing. We saw one of the stock people drop someone’s order to the ground as if it was nothing (Um…Hello? Ever hear of breakables?).
We were in the store for a total of two hours and left without the items I ordered and paid for. I did leave with a serious headache and pent up frustration. UGH!!!!!!
FYI… I won’t say the name of the store. It is not a store I shop at often, for obvious reasons. It’s a known retailer, but not some place like Sears or K-mart.
Our original “game plan” this morning was breakfast at the diner, pick up the cork and dry erase boards, stop by another store to pick up our son’s “big” Christmas present (a new bike), them come home and wrap. That plan went out the window after spending two hours in the store to pick up an order that wasn’t even available.
While we were driving to our next destination (to pick up the bike) I was reading my e-mails. I belong to a local Freeshare/Freecycle group. There was a post from a lady who was looking for a Rock ’em Sock ’em Robot game/toy for her son. He really wanted one but they couldn’t afford to get him one.
I told my husband about the post and told him that I would love to offer my Real Steel Robot game/toy, I wasn’t sure if the boy saw the movie and would know who they were. Then my husband said something interesting. He said “You know what. I’m going to buy that toy and give it to them”.
I know my husband is an incredibly wonderful person, but I didn’t think he was serious. He was! As soon as we arrived at the store to get the bike, instead of picking up the bike right away he went and found the Rock ’em Sock ’em game/toy. He even made sure to pick one with a good box (several of the boxes were smashed). Then he went to pick up our son’s bike.
While he was doing that I e-mailed the woman looking for the toy and asked her to call me. When she did I told her we had one (I did not tell her it was brand new) and that we were in the area and could drop it off. Normally with Freeshare/Freecycle the person who wants the item comes to you to pick it up.
She was very grateful to save her the trip to pick it up and gave me her address, which we put into our GPS so we could find her.
We arrived at her house and she met us outside. My husband got out of the car and handed her a brand new Rock ’em Sock ’em Robot game/toy, still in the store bag. At first she was taken back and didn’t know what to say. Then she finally asked us if we just bought it (mind you she was in total shock and disblief). When we told her yes she nearly burst int tears! She offered to pay us for it (silly girl!) and we told her just to enjoy it and wished her a Merry Christmas.
When I got home I found a very sincere e-mail from her, thanking me like crazy for the game/toy. She even offered to send me a Dunkin Donuts gift card and Barnes & Noble gift credit that she had. I am addicted to Dunkin Donuts coffee 🙂 but I told her to “pay if forward” instead. I told her the next time she sees a Salvation Army bell ringer standing outside in the bitter cold, give that person the Dunkin Donuts gift card. I’m sure they would appreciate a hot cup of coffee, tea or cocoa. I also suggested using the Barnes & Noble gift credit to pick up some books on clearance and drop them off at a local hospital, nursing home or school.
We’re not rich people by any means. The lady said the game was not in their budget and they couldn’t afford it. We can totally relate to that. There are things we would love to have but can’t afford. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something nice for someone else, especially for a child. So what if we have to eat pasta an extra day this coming week. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that Christmas morning a young boy is going to wake up and receive the toy he really wanted. His mom was even going to tell him that Christmas Angels gave it to him. That is my husband, an angel. Or a “Holiday Hero” as a friend of mine called him.
My husband is a firm believer that things happen for a reason. He believes if you get stuck on a long line or in traffic, it’s for a reason. He believes that is why we were stuck at the store for so long. Had our order been there we would have picked it up, then the bike, then gone home and wrapped the gifts. I wouldn’t have been online (not until later on in the day) and I wouldn’t have seen her post. So I guess in a strange way wasting two hours of our lives in that store was for a GOOD reason after all.
For the rest of the day we’ve had a serious case of the “warm fuzzies”. I can’t tell you how wonderful that good deed made us feel. It was only a $20 game/toy, but the “return” of the mother’s gratitude and appreciation, topped with knowing that a little boy will have a wonderful Christmas, “paid” us back a hundred times over. If the mom takes my suggestions and “pays it forward” that will be an added bonus.
Random acts of kindness feel SO GOOD! When was the last time you committed a random act of kindness (RAK)? It doesn’t have to cost money to be kind to others. Holding a door open for someone, letting someone with fewer items then you ahead of you in the check out line and even a warm friendly smile can really make a difference in someone’s day.
My kids always say that I’m “too nice”. I take that as a compliment. 🙂
I’d love to hear about YOUR random acts of kindness. What have you done? What has someone done for you? Let’s hear some “feel good stories”. I want to spread the “warm fuzzies” to all my readers.
Kimberly
Ladytink_534 says
AW! What a great thing! Your post made me so happy and I even teared up a bit. I wish there were more people like you out there. Last week I paid for the woman behind me in the drive-thru line.
courtney b says
great post.. your posts are always so detailed and always have a good cause
ANN* says
Sounds like we all have these stress filled crazy days around the holidays so I guess we just have to make the best of them as wwe possibly can
ellen says
I donate to Toys for Tots every year without fail and every time I see a bell ringer I always have a dollar handy. I also donate freely to the battered womens shelter and the mens shelter as well.
I could tell you a huge 2 page story of why I do those things…. but it isn’t important. The important thing is to find something you are passionate about do what you can, when you can no matter how simple it is.
Paying it Forward is a good thing- and I am so glad to hear things like this. These things are what makes us human and it truly is better to give than to receive.
Eileen says
OK my girls and I are watching HELP and you have me crying. What a great feel good story, and yes, you not only made a little boy happy…you taught a woman on the verge of despair…a feeling so many of us feel when not able to afford things for kids, that there is good in the world in the form of “Earth Angels”. Your idea to pay it forward was the best lesson anyone can have this time of year. or ANY time of year. Thanks for the good cry! (my girls are looking at my like I am some crazy lady cuz the movie just started. LOL). Kudos and hugs to you and your very sweet hubby!
carol y l says
Yes, you did! So nice to see kindness in the world today.
Michelle Ayers says
I love the concept of paying it forward!
Betty Baez says
i saw this on facebook and it just warms your heart to do something nice for others…hubby’s the same way he’s so sweet. We dont have much ourselves but he makes an effort to pay it forward whenever we can <3
anna pry says
aww, i got teary eyed!
There’s nothing like that feeling of helping somebody out. We set aside $$ each month to help anyone who needs it and sometimes i’m tempted to take $50 in ones and go to walmart and just start handing out cash. That would be awesome fun!
Jen says
My grandmother fed many many people in her life. Most of the time she planned on company and loved to cook and entertain but on those days when unexpected company showed up she would put together a great buffet and say “out of the nothingness of the what..”.” No one ever left hungry.