We had only been here a week when I found a better Target. The one near us was under renovation and it messed up my shopping aura. I had ordered some dark brown leather furniture, and wanted to look for some pillows to brighten it up. (as if I needed an excuse to go to Target)
With my one little pillow in the basket, I browsed the rest of the store. Somewhere between the toy and electronics departments, I was accosted by two boys asking for money.
"Can I have a dollar?"
"Excuse me?" There went my shopping aura.
The Accomplice explained, "He needs a dollar."
As a matter of fact, I had just returned something and had a wad of dollars, but I was longing for conversation, so I asked, "Why do you need a dollar?"
"Because I wanna buy this toy and I need another dollar."
"Where's your mother?"
"She dropped us off. But my uncle gave me $20 for my birthday..."
The Accomplice, "Show her the money! He's got a 20 dollar bill!"
"...and I found this cool car for $19.99..."
The Accomplice, "I'll go get the car!"
"...except when I went to pay for it the total was $21.34 with tax. The guy in electronics said he would forget about the 34 cents if I could find another dollar."
I looked at those 2 faces. I looked at the guy in electronics. I looked at the cool lime green remote control car. I looked into my soul and thought, 'What would Jesus do'? That didn't work so well, since Jesus wouldn't be in Target buying decorative pillows.
I wanted to help the boys. They could do worse things with $20 than to buy something that would keep them busy for a few hot summer days, but I also didn't want to encourage them to hit up old ladies for money so I thought, 'What would Larry James do'?
Larry would let them earn the money.
I said, "I won't give you a dollar, but I'll give you an opportunity to earn a dollar if you're willing to work for it." They jumped and smiled and vowed they would do whatever I asked.
"Well...(I looked in my basket),I'm about to buy something really heavy, and I'll probably need 2 strong boys to help me get it in my shopping cart."
They high-fived each other and flexed their muscles. Now if I could just think of something really heavy to buy. I turned to go to the garden department. The item we found was on the top shelf. The Accomplice offered to get Mr. Electronics to get it down for us. Birthday Boy waited with me.
I checked out the TOM-TOM GPS on the end cap. "I need one of these for my car."
Birthday Boy chimed in, "Yeah, so does my uncle. He dudn't know how to get anywhere in Florida. He's from TEXAS!" I let it slide.
Soon The Accomplice returned with his report. "The guy in electronics said, 'Tell your mom I'll be right there.' He thinks you're our MOM!"
"Oh, my. I'm much older than your mom."
"Nuh-UH!" said The Accomplice. "My mom's 27!"
And suddenly it occurred to me. It really wouldn't be fair to just give the birthday boy a dollar when that sweet young friend of his was being so helpful..."How old are you?" I asked.
"I'm 10." (do the math; he's a child of a child)
Birthday Boy, "My mom's WAY older than his mom and you. She's 52!"
"I'm 52." I said.
"NO WAY!" they shouted. And I for one believe they were sincerely shocked, and were not just trying to get an extra dollar out of me. "You look more like HIS mom than MY mom!"
"Well, I have used Mary Kay products since my twen..." oops, wrong story.
I asked Birthday Boy, "How old are you?"
"I'm 12." The Accomplice confirmed that it was indeed the truth. I did that math, too, and figured if I had given birth to that kid when I was 40, I would look years beyond my years, as well.
I looked at my watch and realized that I needed to leave and pick up Drew, so I said, "Okay, look. You have proven to me that if I did have something heavy, you would have helped me get it to the cart, but I've gotta go. So, here's a dollar for each of you. Happy Birthday!"
Could life get any better? They ran to the electronics department and I went to the express lane. As the clerk was ringing up my pillow, I saw The Accomplice run for the gourmet cookie counter.
"Ma'am?"
"I'm sorry. How much do I owe you?"
"The pillow was $19.99 and with tax it will be..."
"I know," I nodded as my aura returned. "$21.34".
12 comments:
Carolyn,
It is amazing how many opportunities God gives you to be Him to strangers. It is because you have such an open heart. No one can tell a story better than you. I still think you should tell these stories in a book. Perhaps the title could just be "Godly Encounters of the Carolyn Kind" Keep telling us your stories. I for one love them!
And You!
You made their day! And I'm sure you were uplifted too!
I wouldn't even have thought of making them work for the dollar. What a good story!
i agree with lynn- just take your stories and turn them into a book. it wouldn't be that hard and i bet word of mouth would cause it to sell like hotcakes.
Remind me not to ask many favors! Just kidding. That is a great story. Glad to get to read some of your thoughts. God bless,
Matt
Just one more thought. It is rather scary to think that these precious boys were willing to come out to your car. What if it had been someone else with not so pure of motives and they grabbed them out at the car? They could have been such easy targets. May the Lord protect our children from others who are not as precious as you.
good point.
I hope Larry reads your blog. So cute how you let the "Texas" comment slide :)
Such a great story! Those boys will remember that Target encounter for a long time!
Neat story!!
Cakes -- You keep me in stitches! (What does that mean exactly?) I just spent about an hour reading your past posts and laughed out loud in my office so many times I think my co-workers think I'm drinking something other than Crystal Light! :) Love you!
how's the tropical storm?
am thinking about you!
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