Not Always Right | December 29, 2023 | Right With Your Soul | Shield Insurance

I am working at my register, serving a young woman who is trying to handle a fussy toddler. She looks tired, underweight, pale, and just… a little bit broken. This poor woman is going through the wringer. Sadly, I have to give her some bad news.

Me: “I’m sorry, but your debit card has been declined.”

She looks at me with eyes that I can tell are on the verge of crying, but she swallows this bad news and shakes it off like it’s a muscle memory.

Customer: “I’m sorry, I thought I might have been paid by now. My boss isn’t always on time. I only have £4.77 on me in cash. What can I get for the baby for that?”

She takes out her cash, all low-value coins, and places it respectfully on the counter. I double-check the amount of the items she is buying, all cheap store-brand items, and all essentials. It comes to just over £20.

Suddenly, without even thinking about it myself, I apply the employee discount and then tap my smartwatch to pay for the items.

Customer: *Eyes going wide* “Wait, what? What did you do?”

Me: “Today, it’s on me. Take your little one home to get fed, and then shout at your boss for not paying you on time.”

Customer: *Sliding the coins at me* “No… No, I can’t. Please tell me what I owe, and I’ll come back—”

Me: *Sliding the coins back* “I wouldn’t have done it if I couldn’t manage it. Seriously, please, it’s fine. I hope the rest of your day goes better!”

The customer finally breaks. The tears start running down her face and keep on coming. Her toddler has noticed and is confused, so she starts crying, too.

Customer: “It’s… it’s just… been so long… and I…”

The register is between the customer and me, so it’s a bit awkward, but I reach forward and give her a hug. She hugs back tightly.

Right With Your Soul

Me: “It’s okay. You’ll be okay. I think you need to calm your little one down a bit.”

The customer wipes her face and then smiles at her crying toddler, picking her up and calming her down as I bag her items for her (not something we usually do for customers). She thanks me again, and she’s on her way.

The next customer in line approaches me.

Next Customer: “You know that was a scam, right? I admit she was a good actress, and the crying kid was a nice touch, but she scammed free stuff out of you.”

Me: “So what?”

The next customer is suddenly surprised. He wasn’t expecting me to not be so naïve.

Me: “If she’s a scammer, well then, she got £18 from me that I can afford to lose. If she hadn’t been a scammer and I had done nothing, then I would be losing sleep thinking about it, and lack of sleep is something that I cannot afford. So, yeah… so what? Why do you have to be so negative?”

Next Customer: “I was just saying—”

Me: “Well, next time, don’t.”

I scanned his items silently and he left red-faced: angry or embarrassed, I didn’t care. Is it Right With Your Soul?

The first customer and her toddler were back a few days later. She had come back the day before looking for me, but I was off that day. She wanted to try to pay me back and say thank you again! Of course, I refused and told her to always find me when she’s checking out in the future and I’d see if I couldn’t wrangle up some discounts for her.

Returning the money… pretty sure that’s not something a scammer would do… Is it Right With Your Soul