I was walking through Wegmans yesterday morning when I heard a woman ask where something was located because she wanted to ship them to her son who was stationed abroad in the military. I’d been trying to find a good idea for a RAK and knew that this was a perfect opportunity given my affinity for folks in the military.
So I stalked her. For 15 minutes or so, I followed her around the store as she went about completing her shopping trip. She wrapped up and headed towards the cash register and as she was beginning to unload her groceries, I asked her if I had heard her correctly in saying her son was stationed abroad and that she was sending him a care package. She said yes and I told her about ARG, and what we were doing, and that I was picking up her groceries this morning. She looked at me like I had fallen on my head.
I asked her what she was getting for her son…Old Bay flavored Cheese Puffs and Chips, and went back and got a few more bags for her. I also heard her ask for specific types of cookies that reminded him of home and she walked with me to pick out a few of them as well.
She appreciated the gesture and began putting the items for her son on the belt at which time I told her that I was talking about her stuff as well. She said she didn’t feel right about that but I pointed out that the sacrifices she has to make are part of this as well. She had just told me she had spent $1600 for a flight for her son to fly back and get married in August rather than have to take 3 military transports across multiple days in order to show up for the big day, and tried to stash away money so she could help out whenever she could.
She pulled out her phone told her son Mark what was happening and that she thought she was on the Price is Right or someone was filming this somewhere and handed me the phone. I talked to him for a few minutes, thanking him for what he’s doing over there. He appreciated the gesture and said it was good to know people at home appreciated what they were doing.
I paid the bill for his mom and gave her the receipt just in case she had to return anything ($236). She gave me a big hug with tears coming out of her eyes and thanked me profusely for doing this, still in disbelief. My wife said I should’ve put up the remaining money for shipping since she’s going to need a bigger box.
– Ryan Robertson
