Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Kindness


Hi, it's Frank, reporting from Local Grocery.

Since my dorm is closed and I'm doing college online, I've kept my job bagging groceries and collecting carts for the time being.

One of the things we do are the occasional grocery carry-outs, where we lug stuff out and load bags into cars. Generally the only people who need this are the older customers or those with disabilities, though we offer it to all.

It's not a hard part of the job, and certainly we don't ask for tips (in fact, there are signs telling customers not to tip us) but if the rare person hands us a dollar or two, we thank them.

I spent the Labor Day weekend working all 3 days, and Monday afternoon I was assigned to the parking lot. It was roughly 100 degrees, and Grumpyville's usual late-summer mosquito-laden humidity. While I was collecting carts from a corral in the back of the lot, some guy pulled up and asked me to help him swap out a few of the big white propane tanks.

He had 4 of them in his trunk, and as anyone who's had to carry them knows, they're heavy. It took me 2 trips, carrying a pair of them each time, to get them up to the exchange rack at the side of the store. He went inside and paid for 4 more, so I got the keys from the manager and rolled out 4 full ones for him. Then I carried those back to his car (which he had near the back of the lot for whatever reason). This took another 2 trips, and the full ones are, obviously, heavier.

After I put them in his trunk I asked if there was anything else I could help him with. He said no, so I wished him a good day and went back to the cart corral to pick up where I'd left off. A minute later he came over and said "Hey, kid, thank you for doing that, I know they're heavy" and handed me a folded $20 bill. I was gratefully surprised, and said "thank you" as I shoved it in my pocket.

I pushed a line of carts back into the store and the rest of my shift was uneventful. I wasn't expecting the extra money, but it would certainly come in handy since I need some new parts for my computer.

When I got home I went to transfer it to my wallet.

Upon unfolding it, it was a fake $20 bill, with a picture of Yogi Bear on it.

20 comments:

Flugelman said...

Heh. He must have descended from the lady who asked me if I had change for a dime back when I was bagging and carrying groceries in the 50's.

Anonymous said...

At least it made you enjoy the rest of your shift more...

BTW: We're still waiting to find out why you needed towels

Officer Cynical said...

It'd be a shame if his car somehow caught fire the next time he's at the store. Especially if some propane tanks accidentally rolled under it.

Ygolonac said...

What I was finding on the ground for quite a while were "twenty dollar bills" folded up, and upon unfolding were either religious proselytizing or ads for a payday loan/debt management joint.

Shash said...

I remember those customers. Just repeat "karma" to yourself and keep helping people.

A. Marie said...

Oh, Frank, I'm so sorry. Best advice here is what Shash has said.

BB/VA said...

Shash is right - karma always wins - eventually. Still, too bad you couldn't bounce two of those filled cylinders off of two side of his head.

Mad Jack said...

I've been there and had it done to me. The guy's a jerk. The real crime is that he'll never learn to behave any better than he does right now.

Suzan said...

I am so very sorry that you had this experience. I wonder if you could report him for handing over fake money? I don' know you laws in comparison to the Australian law.

Manda said...

What a dickhead!! You're doing great Frank

lost lenore said...

Do a go fund me page. I’ll replace the twenty.

Ms. Donna said...

AS others have posted, Karma will get him. You might want to report the counterfeit to the local police and Secret Service. Karma has a way of working through those folks.

Anonymous said...

What Shash said.

(I was trying to think of something more meaningful, but that's it. Someday, you'll have the temptation when you meet up with that guy again, somewhere, somehow. Maybe you'll perform his mother's open heart surgery --you know he doesn't have one. You'll be the one that takes the high road. Anyway. He'll just owe you twice.)

jbt369 said...

Now you know something that they don't teach in college.

evodevo said...

That's why they say "Don't take any wooden nickels"

LibraryGryffon said...

My commiserations. My younger daughter has been working her local Wegmans, mostly the "cart to curb" detail. The customers weren't too bad, but between manglement and immature coworkers she quit last week.

Anonymous said...

Ya know, I think I'd see if he paid by credit card. Probably. And in that case, just turn the 20 into the feds with an honest description of what happened, along with his name.

Look up "uttering".

If you get lucky, a T-man will visit him. Who knows, it might be a slow day in the office. They seriously lack a sense of humor over this sort of thing. Doubt there'd be consequences beyond a discussion of unwise behavior, but there'd be a brief but heartfelt awshit minute. Or two.

Nothing wrong with giving karma a little bit of a leg up...

Packer said...

Someone had to give some thought to being that big an asshole, it just does not come naturally. Trouble is we have a lot of folks thinking like that these days.

Anonymous said...

Used to happen a lot when I worked the Sunday shift at a restaurant. People would come in for their pre/post-Church brunch, and add what appeared to be a $20 sticking out of the check folder. When we opened the folder, it was actually a small pamphlet hyping the glories of [deity] as being worth much more than $20.

Just John said...

Sorry about the fake tip, but I kept thinking that the punchline of the story was going to be him asking you why you didn't think to use one of the carts that you were standing right next to. I mean, aren't they intended for use in transporting heavy loads?

 
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