The ice cream story .....

I've found out, in being a Kroger's customer, that - when you use your Price Plus card - they then send you in the mail personalized coupons, based on what you regularly purchase :)  Recently I got another packet in the mail...and, knowing a dear friend is having a rough time of it, I decided to send her almost all of them - well, I pulled out the ones like for dog bones (she has a CAT!) and ice cream (she's diabetic!) - and put them with the rest of my coupons....

So when I was in the store last week, the store just down the road from me, I walked into the aisle with the boxes of pasta and there was a woman who was holding a tall plastic cup with alot of loose change in it - the only place I've ever seen that is in a casino! but here she was, in a supermarket in central Kentucky, and - as she reached for what she wanted from the shelf, the change spilled.  "OH! This is just not my day!" she said right out loud.  I'm not even sure if she realized I was there ... anyway, since my back was doing good and I could bend, I immediately got down on the floor and helped her...and she started telling me why she was having such a clearly rough time of it:  there refrigerator went out, and the landlord said he didn't even think he could come round until tomorrow and that was a maybe!...I listened sympathetically and, at that time, I thought, that was that ... she walked away, continued shopping, and so did I...and then, I looked down for my next coupon...

Oh!  This was the coupon for free ice cream!

Well I soon found out this lady could move FAST, lol!  It took me a little bit to find her.  "Hi!" I smiled.  "I helped you out, now maybe you can help me out?"

She smiled, but her eyes were wary - understandably so! I'm sure what was running through her mind were things like there is so no such thing as a free lunch, etc, etc....

I showed her this coupon, and then, I pointed to myself.  "Do I look like I need this?!" I exclaimed.  "Can you help me out and take this coupon?!"

Well, she started cracking up laughing, and she said, "You know, we're such big ice cream people, it never lasts, so we never have to refrigerate it, but I just didn't have the money..."

So there you go:  I made less of a contribution to my padding, and I made a family who was being tossed around by circumstances and adversity, a little happier ... for free!