Last weekend my daughter and I went out grocery shopping. It was a Saturday so the grocery store was full and we ended up parking a little away from the entrance. When we had finished shopping and were packing our groceries in the trunk of the car, a middle aged man, neatly dressed and well mannered came up and offered to take our grocery cart back to the store.

Normally, I try to avoid strangers coming up to me in parking lots as much as possible. But for some reason, this day, I was not offended that he came up to us as we were loading the car. When he asked if I could give him a little something for his trouble; he said he’s hit on some hard times and that day was a bad day for him. He said, he was sure tomorrow was going to be better and he won’t have to ask people for money.

I don’t know why, because I don’t normally give money to pan handlers either, but this time I did. I handed him a dollar and he said thank you with a smile and took our shopping cart back to the store. When I got in the car, my daughter was already sitting on the passenger side. She asked if I gave him something. I said, Yes, I had a dollar so I gave him that.

She smiled, and said, “That’s good, mom. I’m glad.”

I think my absent minded altruism brightened her day more than it did the stranger I gave money to. For that, I was grateful and my day seemed brighter too. Not only did we help a stranger, I also realized that kindness and charity is in my daughter’s heart; and that made me a very happy mom.

Have you brightened someone else’s day lately? Come leave me a comment on the Cheer Giveaway on Found Not Lost and you could win Cheer laundry detergent!

On a related theme, also check out my review and giveaway for the book, Breaking the Bank by Yona McDonough.