Day 199: What Do you Mean it’s Not All About Me?

We all have moments in our life that in a split second you have to make a decision that will affect another person and cause a ripple effect of good or bad by your actions. Today I had one of those moments – to help myself or to help another person and sprinkle a little bit of kindness into the world.

Day 199: Give 199

This was a first for me as “gives” go. If you have read my blog this week, I have been in Toronto on business. I am an ex-Torontonian now calling Vancouver my home. My husband and I made the choice to “go west” for many reasons and one was to get away from the fast passed lives that many people lead in Toronto. Don’t get me wrong, Toronto is a great city. I think of it as the New York City of Canada but it is easy to get swept away into all the fast passed big city life craziness. Between getting stuck in traffic and busy over packed schedules it’s hard to find time in your day to be kind, compassionate and to give back.

During the course of the week I had to run into the local mega grocery store. I had exactly 20 minutes to shop and pick up a bottle of wine.  I figured out that if I allotted my time just right and the lines at the mega store were not too long I may even have time to shop for 2.5 minutes at a little clothing store I like just across the street. (a rare moment for a Mom with a 3 year old).  It was all about time management. Ready.. set… go….. 

In 13 minutes I had my groceries done and was next in line to pay. If I could get my check out done in two minutes I would still have time for the wine stop and the dress shop. I was getting a bit impatient as the women in front of me was getting the cashier to check the price on each item she was purchasing – many at a 50% reduction as they were 1 or 2 days old. Obviously she was on a tight budget and every penny counted. Finally she was out of my way and I could check out, grab my bags and run. Suddenly the cashier stopped my check out as I was packing my groceries. The women that had been checking out in front of me had left one of her bags of groceries behind. The cashier did finish checking me out and instead of going after her she decided the women would come back at some point on her own.  I had this feeling the women would be heading for the subway and if I could just catch her she wouldn’t get all the way home before discovering half her groceries were missing. I know how upset I would be after getting home after a long days work to discover I had to go back out again and find my missing groceries.

I ran down the escalator, out the front door of the store and out of the corner of my eye I could just see her entering into the subway. I started running and yelling all in the same breath and made just enough commotion to make her – and everyone else on the street – stop to stare at me. I let her know she had left her bag behind with the grocery clerk.

I didn’t have time to get my wine nor hit the cute little shop I like when all was said and done but as I drove away I felt great that I had made a choice to help another person before indulging myself. My eyes had been open just enough to make the split second choice that I hope made someone else’s day.

Time commitment: 4 minutes

Cost: 0