This Lesson In Kindness At Target Made Our Day

Sometimes, you go to Target for a couple of items and you get a whole lot more. In this one woman's case, she got a lesson in kindness. On Facebook earlier this month, an Indiana mom named Sarah Owen Bigler posted a story about a recent trip to Target she took with her two young children. Her son was sick and she was hoping to get out of there quickly, but ended up in line behind an elderly woman who was paying for her items in change. "Part of me, the part that had a long day at work, the part of me who had a 1-and-a-half year old having a meltdown in the cart, the part that had set an unnecessary timeline for Target and getting home, was frustrated with this woman and the inconvenience she had placed on me," Bigler wrote. But then, she saw how the young employee was treating the woman and changed her mind. "I watched him help her count her change, ever so tenderly taking it from her shaking hands. I listened to him repeatedly saying 'yes, ma'am' to her," she wrote. "When she asked if she had enough to buy a reusable bag, he told her she did and went two lines over to get one for her and then repackaged her items." Bigler added, "Never once did this employee huff, gruff, or roll his eyes. He was nothing but patient and kind. "

She then noticed how her own little daughter was standing next to the elderly woman, watching the young employee count her change. "I realized I hadn't been inconvenienced at all," she wrote. "That my daughter was instead witnessing kindness and patience and being taught this valuable lesson by a complete stranger; furthermore, I realized that I, too, needed a refresher on this lesson." When the employee started ringing Bigler up, he thanked her for her patience, but she said she thanked him for "teaching us patience and kindness by his treatment of that elderly woman." She then found the manager to share what this moment meant to her. "We left Target with a cart full of consumable items," Bigler wrote. "But what is more a heart full of gratitude for such an invaluable lesson." Bigler also shared a valuable piece of advice for any of her neighbors. "If you are ever in the Glendale Target, give Ishmael a smile and a nod," she wrote. "The world could use more people like him."