By Rebecca van Noppen
“Let me pay for that,” the young woman said behind me as I finished packing up my groceries. The cashier was holding up a jug of apple cider that had been forgotten, laying on the conveyor belt in no-man’s-land between groceries paid and those yet to be rung through.
Pulling out my wallet again with the cash to pay for this delinquent jug, the smiling young woman once more expressed her kind offer.
“Are you serious?” I asked.
“Most definitely,” she had said with a gentle laugh. “I would love to.”
This gesture, simple and profound, began a three-way interaction with an astonished cashier, a delighted giver, and a surprised and thankful receiver. We chatted about our efforts to give, encourage, and bless people by paying for groceries, and how so often people refuse the kindness. I knew what it was to be on the giving side of the equation, and I wasn’t about to keep this beautiful young woman from receiving the joy of the give. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t a $100 jug of juice, but we all seemed to know it wasn’t about the price. It was about the opportunity, the heart, the ask, the receiving, the spontaneity, and simply being a part of a community interested in the well-being of others.
In this season of life, when I daily read articles outlining the financial stress so many Canadians are facing, I can get lost in statistic after statistic reminding me of how hard things are. News outlets and financial papers outline the billions of dollars lost in productivity, as Canadians worry about cost of housing and living paycheque-to-paycheque. They recount to us the amount of debt Canadians are accumulating (and no I am not going to give you the details here), and how that sets us back on our journeys toward retirement.
After reading these articles, I feel something missing—something like hope—that I only seem to find in the community I live and work in, that I find in the faces and actions of people like that young woman who bought a stranger a jug of apple cider without knowing the full story.
Don’t get me wrong, lots of these articles have “answers” that help us. Even I write articles with financial tips and tricks that include:
- Getting financially aware
- Tracking spending
- Having an emergency cushion
- Living on less
- Paying down debt
All very practical, yet not very inspiring, at least not until we hear these practical steps from people who have been where we are, and have found a way through.
There is no magic pill or silver bullet that will get our financial houses in order, but we may find inspiration to do the knitty-gritty practical work of tracking spending, paying down debt, and saving for retirement, in the stories and experiences of our family members, friends, and neighbours—stories like the woman at the grocery store, who kindly offered to buy some juice for someone she didn’t know.
To hear more financial stories that bring hope and inspiration listen here: