After work, I met my husband at the vet’s office. We had booked the last appointment of the work day to discuss my dog’s biopsy results with the vet, only to be told, “I thought it was benign but it is the worst – malignant melanoma – we can just keep him comfortable… probably 5 months…†We took the news and left the office, going to our separate cars. I was heading toward home, feeling pretty heavy, but the gas tank was near empty so I went to the gas station to fill up. That’s when I realized I had left my purse at the vet’s office.
I pictured it hanging over the back of the chair where I’d been sitting. I asked the gas station cashier if I could use the phone. The vet’s office was closed. The cashier said, “Don’t worry about it: I’ll buy you $10 worth of gas.†She pulled her cash card from her pocket and smiled at me.  “I got it.†I really thought she probably didn’t have $10 to give away, but I needed some help, and she was offering it to me. I thanked her, and assured her I would return to repay her as soon as I got my purse. “No worries, it’s fine,†she repeated.
As soon as I got home, my husband presented me with my purse: the vet’s had called right after I left and our number was forwarded to his cell phone, so he had gone back to get it. I told him about the young cashier being willing to give me $10—and I went straight back to pay her. I couldn’t think of an appropriate way to thank her—she certainly didn’t want to make a big deal of it—but, because it meant so much to me, I decided I would write it up as a Random Act of Kindness.
Lisa Hammett Vaughan
