A proud Mom who wants to say Thank You to a daughter.

As a mom, I harbor the same bias most parents do. My kids, despite their faults & foibles, are awesome. Not saying they're perfect or beyond reproach, because we've certainly weathered our share of troubles & setbacks, but my husband & I have always strived to instill in each of them a strong sense of values, ethics, morals, & just plain good old fashioned gumption. All five are gainfully employed; one's a college grad, one's in the Army, the youngest is in college. My husband & I aren't into organized religion, but we taught them the difference between right & wrong, & the Golden Rule of how to treat others, hoping that our lessons took root.

Today, my youngest who's 19 & works part-time as a cashier at a grocery, came home & told me this.

She was invited to lunch by some co-workers, but she declined because she was broke. The co-workers (all but one named Emily) began to tease her about being frivolous with her paycheck which is less than $100 a week, asking whether she had spent it on clothes or her boyfriend. She took the ribbing in stride, yet refused to reveal what she had done with her money.

After lunch, there was a meeting in the office which everyone except her was called in for. When she clocked out, ready to leave for the day, her boss called her over & handed her an envelope. In the envelope was $50.48. She was clueless as to why she was being given it, until the manager said, "Emily told us why you couldn't afford lunch today."

It seems that last week an elderly customer, a little frail and stooped woman in her 80s & walking with a cane came through my daughter's checkout lane. Her grocery order came to $50.48. She tried to pay for it with a debit card, but it hadn't been activated. My daughter tried to help her figure out how to activate it, but after a couple of tries, it still hadn't gone thru. My daughter calls Emily over who also tries to help, but the process required the woman's address, SS#, & other assorted personal info. The little old woman was a bit confused & both my daughter & Emily were uncomfortable with getting that personal with that sort of sensitive info, so my daughter tells the lady to hold on a second. She goes outside to her truck, retrieves her purse, comes inside, and proceeds to pay for the woman's groceries. It was the last bit of money my daughter had until this next Tuesday when she gets her next check.

Emily, who had witnessed the whole thing, asked why she had done it after the woman had left My daughter explained that other than feeling terribly sorry for the little old lady who might go hungry that night had she had to put the groceries back, but also that she had been raised to respect her elders & to do unto others.

It was only after Emily heard my daughter being teased about being a spendthrift today that she shared with everyone my daughter's small act of kindness & generosity, which in turn prompted everyone who had teased her to chip in to repay her. My daughter tried to refuse the money, but her boss & co-workers wouldn't hear of it.

I honestly don't know whether they were shamed or inspired by my daughter's kindness, but I can tell you that I'm surely one damned proud Mom. I want to think that there are more young people out there in this day & age of apathy, violence, self-absorption & entitlement mentality who also took to heart the lessons of their youth, for in them lie the hope of the future.

Awesome story.

As parents we often think that our children are not listening to what we say or what we are trying to teach them. We tend to forget that they also learn what they see.

We are usually always proud of our children but they can often surprise you when you least expect it. I'm sure you knew she was capable of doing something like this... You raised her. But to find out that she actually did do it when it came down to it, and didn't even feel the need to brag about it or share it should have and did impress you.

Selfishly it does give us a good feeling that we must have done something right, but more than that you are happy that you have created this being that wants to help those around her and make the world a better place instead of one that does nothing for others and only takes/hurts everything they touch. We absolutely need more of the former and a lot less of the latter.

Good job Mom. And thanks for sharing it.

a reply to: ladyjem

You should be and rightly so very proud . Also Emily and the manager should also be proud of themselves . Kind of brings back my trust in humanity all around . Thank you for sharing .

a reply to: ladyjem

Way to go Mom!!
You've done a great job with your kids as is shown by her act of kindness

Wish more young adults were like her
Be proud, be very proud !!

a reply to: ladyjem

Lady I applaud your pride in your kids and you have done well to bring them up in world with so many traps as there is in today's world. I admire your preparedness to let your kids make their own decisions.

I just wish so many more parents could read this that follows while their kids are still very young as there predatory interests out there who prey upon parents who have the best of intentions.

This is from the publication "silent weapons for quiet war"

The Draft (As military service)

Few efforts of human behavior modification are more remarkable or more effective than that of the socio-military institution known as the draft. A primary purpose of a draft or other such institution is to instill, by intimidation, in the young males of a society the uncritical conviction that the government is omnipotent.

He is soon taught that a prayer is slow to reverse what a bullet can do in an instant. Thus, a man trained in a religious environment for eighteen years of his life can, by this instrument of the government, be broken down, be purged of his fantasies and delusions in a matter of mere months. Once that conviction is instilled, all else becomes easy to instill.

Even more interesting is the process by which a young man's parents, who purportedly love him, can be induced to send him off to war to his death. Although the scope of this work will not allow this matter to be expanded in full detail, nevertheless, a coarse overview will be possible and can serve to reveal those factors which must be included in some numerical form in a computer analysis of social and war systems.

We begin with a tentative definition of the draft.

The draft (selective service, etc.) is an institution of compulsory collective sacrifice and slavery, devised by the middle-aged and elderly for the purpose of pressing the young into doing the public dirty work. It further serves to make the youth as guilty as the elders, thus making criticism of the elders by the youth less likely (Generational Stabilizer). It is marketed and sold to the public under the label of "patriotic = national" service.

Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars - The Lawful Path www.lawfulpath.com...
34 of 36 1/07/2013

a reply to: ladyjem

Awesome, you should be proud! Karma has a way of rewarding acts of kindness, as shown with the employees taking up a collection. If I was the employer, I would have pitched in an extra $50! Considering all the bad outside influence kids have today, you're doing a great job raising her to be a considerate, respectful and a caring young lady.

Way to Go, MOM you and your hubby have done the right thing. Teaching your children all the most important things a person needs to know. Tell your husband he did good, also.

One for you.
One for your husband.
2 for your daughter. Why 2 ? Because after a certain age, they develop their own morals and life rules. Looks like her's are right on.

Thanks for sharing that wonderful story. Your daughter deserves a huge hug!

a reply to: ladyjem

Well I'm not sure if I am just overly emotional but that brought a tear to my eye. What made it even better was that she didn't feel the need to tell her co-workers about it even when they were giving her some stick.

You should be proud, I wish there were more people like your daughter. Not many, so young, would have done that for someone they didn't know.

What a truly inspiring story! Kudos to you and to your wonderful daughter! I think her co-workers were both shamed and inspired as they should be.

a reply to: ladyjem

You ma'am....have an amazing daughter. And you? An even more amazing parent!

Congrats!

Yes, those are the kinds of stories we'd like to hear more about! I'm glad you took the time to write it, and I'm glad your daughter was blessed with the ability and the concern for others as to be so generous.

I felt the same kind of pride when my daughter, around the same age as yours at the time, came home without any shoes...she had taken them off and given them to a homeless person who had none. I had no reason to doubt her a bit, having seen her character develop through the years.

Compassion for others is priceless!!

Excellent story, if your not too old keep producing kids please continue because the world is in desperate need of more of your genes!
Please give your daughter a hug for the both of us.

Regards, Iwinder & YogaGinns

a reply to: ladyjem

I was already logged out when i saw your thread+logged back in to reply-i have to tell you,it brought tears to my eyes.Please give your wonderful daughter a huge big ol' hug from me.My daughter is 17,and i'm positive she would do the exact same thing.We raised her to put herself in others' shoes,to have compassion and empathy-but i very suspect it was a moot point-she too,has a great and good heart.just like your daughter.She's one of those who would jump in front of a rabid dog,or an incoming asteroid,to try and save someone,especially a child or an elderly person,and would go hungry to feed a homeless person.Thank you for sharing.Thank you to your daughter,for being who and what she is.Young people like these.like your daughter and mine,give me the faintest glimmer of hope for the human race.Bless your daughter,and Bless you and your husband,who raised her.

ladyjem, S&F for sharing your story. You and your husband have done a wonderful job as parents and I commend you for it.

I have seen random acts of kindness like this before, but it is usually by an older person who can well afford to part with that amount. But for a young person to give that amount when it is all they had chokes me up. As Iwinder stated before, big hugs from us to your entire family.

Your daughter has been an inspiration to her peers.

Namaste,
YogaGinns

On a side note, it is sad that she feels her purse is safer in the truck than inside the building. Hope she doesn't pay a price for that one day.