This afternoon, I went to the gas station to top off my gas tank. It is warmer than it has been so I thought I'd take advantage of the climate and fill up the gas tank now, perhaps avoiding having to do it on one of those really cold, frigid days.
So, I really did just top off the car, and it cost me $17.00, I sat there thinking about when I was in high school and even college, that would have paid for a full tank of gas.
I was putting my gas cap back on when this early-twenties young woman approached me.
She was well-groomed, (although a little disheveled) nice clothes, a cute scarf around her neck. She explained that she was "Really, really embarrassed" but was wondering if I had a dollar or two to spare. She further explained that she got stuck in the snowstorm last night and had to use every last dollar that she had to pay for a hotel last night, she lives in DC and didn't have any gas left in her car to get home and she didn't know how she was going to get home. In the moment, I believed her.
I never found myself in this situation when I was her age, but I could have. There was a time where I only could pay for things with the cash in my wallet. If that cash were taken or I had to use it unexpectedly, I would have been in trouble. So I took out $10 and gave it to her. She thanked me over and over again and she seemed genuine.
I thought of my kids when they get older. They might find themselves in a situation like that or in a situation where they rely on the kindness of a stranger, or in the belief of a stranger that they are telling the truth and will give them the help that they need. Or perhaps one day it may be me. It is an awful feeling to lose your wallet, I know because it happened to me once. The point is there are lots of bad, dishonest people in the world today, but there are also good, honest people that sometimes find themselves in bad situations like the girl I briefly met today. I hope she is on her way to DC now. And I hope that she will "Pay It Forward" someday.
Until later,
Emily
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Pay It Forward
Posted by Emily Snow at 2:00 PM
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1 comments:
I too hope she was honest. Now days we have a hard time trusting people so many people take advantage of the the goodness we all grow up with. I too hope she will pay it forward. I remember when you lost your wallet, Danny Wiser found it at Lee's NO MONEY of course. Your ID was there, That was before Identity Fraud. You did a good thing. I'm proud you follow your women's intuition. Hug the boys. Love Always Mom
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