Being On The Receiving End Of A Random Act Of Kindness

After a tiring drive to Portland, Oregon from my home 100 miles away, I drove around looking for somewhere to eat near my motel, only to find myself stuck in rush hour traffic. When I had traveled the better part of an hour at a snail’s pace, and had nearly given up hope of finding a good restaurant I turned in to a Safeway parking lot, figuring I would turn around and head back to my motel to sup on an orange I had stuck in my suitcase, just in case.

A light went on in my head. Safeway. Why not buy a Chinese Express meal from their deli, take it back to the motel, and warm it up in the microwave? My brilliant thinking astounded me. Unfortunately, I think that every soul in the city of Portland had chosen this exact day and hour to do their weekly grocery shopping. I was really dragging by the time I found a parking spot and managed to head into the store with a shopping cart.

I had never felt so tired in my life. On the way in, I wondered idly what would happen if I actually dropped in my tracks. How long would it take them to get a message to my husband? Where would they send my body in the meantime? Or would they just toss a blanket over me and let people walk around the pitiful lump on the floor as they shopped?

Inside, I waited to purchase my food in what seemed to be an endless line at the deli counter. Finally! I grabbled my container and barreled my shopping cart around the piles of oranges, apples, and pears, on my way to the check stand, trying to avoid doing bodily damage to other customers, and wondering gloomily whether I was going to make it back to my motel before midnight.

Just then, a store employee approached me with a container full of fresh strawberries.

“Hello,