To feed or not to feed..Tax return or no...or HEY!!! Let them eat cake!!

Sorry I missed everyone last night. I try to write every night, but my mind some times just gets to full and circles and circles round and round.

I had an experience the other night that I've been wanting to write about, but I just couldn't seem to find a " resolution ending" or a good moral. So again I'm asking for your input. (and to help this particular spin spin spin come to rest in my head)

As in most moral situations I don't think there is a right or wrong or even better answer. Maybe there is no "answer" just suggestions.

I was in the grocery store the other night , and you know how at holiday times they sale those boxes of canned and dried goods that feed a family a meal? The lady like four people in front of me asked to purchase three of them.

I'm thinking cool, good for her. She's buying food for her family, and for next to nothing, helping others. I use to work for an AIDS service group and I know how much those boxes can help.

She paid and looked at her receipt, and yelled at the clerk it was all wrong. The clerk looked confused , the customer told her that she wanted an itemized receipt.

The clerk still confused held the receipt thrown at her and asked what she missed. Again the customer snapped..... " I said itemized, don't you know what that means?". "I don't see my dinner donations , just 5 dollars her three times."

The clerk explained that the 5 dollars was like a combo price. It covered the whole box. And also exclaimed how awesome that for just a 5 dollar donation you can feed a family, actually see the box of food, and write it all off!

The customer grumbled and said she didn't give a "fuck" about seeing the box or how big the meal was , she just eanted her full tax write off. By this time some of the line is drifting to other lines and some of us are pulled into the train wreck that is appearing before us.

Poor clerk explains that there are three of the five dollar donations on there and they are clearly marked as tax deductible.  She pleasantly explains that " see its simple...its all right there, holiday giving made easy!"

Customer at this point is yelling, so a manager finally comes over and ask what is the problem. Customer explains that if she is buying twenty some items in that box she wants to see the itemized list and get credit for the true cost, not the fake five dollar cost.

At this point we are all standing there a little dumb founded. The customer says if she can't get credit for everything in that box she wants her fifteen dollars back.  The manager says she would take care of that for her, it would just take a minute because donation transactions are rung a bit different.

OK so this is where I need advice.....I don't know if it was my noisiness, my autistic filter not in gear, or just maybe I was trying to be nice and assume the lady was nice but confused. So I said hi introduced my self and said if she was worried she wasn't getting her  money's worth, I knew a few local charities that she could just donate straight too.

Of course she jumped my @ss. Told me to mined my own (*^^$(*&)&%@ business and a few other words. I stepped back and shut up. She got her money back and stormed out of the store.


As the manager walked away she pulled the three boxes out of the cart at the end of the isle full of the boxes getting ready to be sent out, and sit them back on the stack. I'll be honest, it made a lump in my thought, my chest hurt and there were tears in my eyes to think of three less families getting food. I also thought what can I do? I can barely feed me and mine.

So I opened my mouth...a little but not effectively, and I didn't put my money where my mouth was. (granted there wasn't much money, I only had three more then I was spending but I could have put something back and  have found enough for one of those boxes and just maybe the people behind me would have done the same)

Our plans are after pay day Friday to go pay for at lest one of the three the lady didn't purchase. But I feel its to   little to late.

So my question to you...have you seen this sort of scene? If so what did you do? If not what do you think you would do?

Like I said  no right wrong or better answer. Sometimes I think I should have said more...sometimes I think I should have said nothing. What if I had been just a little braver and instead of speaking to the grumpy customer tturned to my fellow line mates and said some thing like "I have three of that fifteen dollars anybody else want to help?" Of course I didn't think of it then or have the courage.

I like to lead by example not just words. And this time I didn't even lead by words. They just seemed to have made her angrier. 

This is spinning and spinning in my mind to a distraction...

Please no WWJD answer, I want to hear what YOU would do. Even add what you HOPE you would be able to do.

Not a bad deal for 5 to10 dollars huh??

Thanks, as always I look forward to hearing your replies.

I'm very blessed with all the replies I'm getting and very excited by how much it makes each of us share and THINK!  IF you think you GROW and whose spirit and heart doesn't need to grow?

For those of you that are interested, when you reply, if you haven't noticed there is a follow comments my e-mail button...and you will get notices about comments on this particular thread so you can see people replies to you.  Also towards the top near my picture is a follow my e-mail for the whole blog. That way if I post it up in the middle of the night, it is patiently sitting in your inbox in the morning.