Humble me?

It's 4:00 on a Tuesday afternoon and I was standing in line at Stop & Shop. My clothes were damp but I can honestly say my spirit wasn't. The very rain that dampened my clothes also ended a very tough day of work outside, so actually I was feeling pretty good. Even the fact that I had to stand in line to wait for the missing ingredient to the cornerstone of Thanksgiving dinner,(my wife's world famous Cornbread stuffing) didn't seem to get me down!

My turn came after the elderly woman in front of me finally managed to fit her families entire Thanksgiving menu into her cart and shove it through the front doors. I wondered if she took advantage of the young cashier with her age (seeing that it was a 12 item or less lane) knowing that she would never tell someone of her Grandmothers age "no, you have more than 12 items!" I know, it's strange but stuff like that intrigues me.....I know, I said it was strange...can we move on?

All I had was two packages of ground sausage, a jar of Smuckers raspberry jam (my favorite by the way, if I ever become a famous writer and you want to know what to send me for Christmas) and a bag of peanut M&M's. (don't tell my son!) The total came to twelve dollars and change.

Then came the question that I hear every time I come to this particular store "do you have your Stop & Shop card?" and every time it is asked I reply with "no....my wife has one and I always forget to get a new one for myself." and then I get "it's easy, just go to the front desk...it only takes 5 minutes!" Now, on that note...we all know it is about as easy as filling out a DMV form and 5 minutes to any parent, especially 5 minutes away from child and spouse is worth it's weight in gold...so unless this card gives me gold, it can wait.

Well, usually I get a blank stare from the cashier along with a small bit of guilt seeing that I have lost out on at least a dollar or so of savings. This time though the young lady gave me the savings anyway and it actually brought my total down to 9 dollars and change.

Wow, 3 dollars! This little bit of savings made my day! I could not believe it, that was a a quarter of what I spent. Usually only my wife the "coupon Queen" could boast such a successful catch! I am sure some of you are reading this, thinking to yourself "has he lost it, it's 3 friggin' dollars?" Although, those of you that have God, a wife, and a child always there to humble you...you know this is a win.

And then the following question was asked of me "would you like to make a donation to the Jimmy Fund?"

Me: (sheepishly...knowing that the good lord is about to take my money) "yes"

Cashier: "Would you like to donate 1 dollar, 3 dollars or 5 dollars?"

Me: "5, thanks."

Well played God, well played.

Happy Thanksgiving all!