No Way to Say Thanks

The nicest thing just happened to me and I don't know how to say 'thank you' for it. I'm running really low on money these days and it's making me crazy. Ursula hasn't had the chance to pay me yet, I don't get child support until next week, and Rex claims he has nothing to send me, although I know for a fact he was out drinking last night.

Because he wasn't working last year I wasn't getting child support so now that he is working I'm getting extra to make up for the arrears. Since I'm getting extra child support - even though it's money that is owed to me - my rent went up, my food stamps went down, and all three kids are out of school so that means extra food is needed in the house. My kids are always eating.

Anyway, I'm literally down to my last $9.00 in the bank and Ursula texted me to say she wouldn't be able to get to the bank today but offered me the use of her credit card if I needed it. She told me to order something for the kids for dinner so I ordered pizza and paid online with her credit card. I still needed a few groceries, though. Since I can't use her credit card number at a store without the actual card in hand, I ordered a Visa e-gift card with it. $30 just to get enough food to last the weekend until she can put money in my account.

The gift card was delivered to my email and I copied it and sent it to my phone so I could use it. I called half a dozen grocery stores to see if they'd accept it and all of them told me they wouldn't without the gift card in my hand. I don't know why because all it takes is for them to key in the card number and the money will come off the gift card. Whatever. I finally called the Walmart grocery store and the manager said she could take the card so Dolly and I headed out to get cereal, milk, bread, eggs, just the basic staples.

We shopped for our items and went to the cashier, Crystal, who keyed in the gift card number, we went through the process of changing the payment type to credit and all that, but when she put in the security code it came up with an error - invalid security code. Crystal tried a few times and the manager, Sierra, also tried but to no avail, so I called the hotline number that came with the gift card. I was speaking to a customer service agent who was checking into the problem. She said the error she got on her end was that the expiration date didn't match the card.

All the information was completely correct, the card was active, and there was a $30 balance on it. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with it so she determined that there was something wrong with the card itself and would have to turn it over to the tech department or whoever it is that handles card issues. Unfortunately they were closed at the time so they'll have to get back to me - on Monday.

I was telling the girl that the reason I had the card was to be able to feed my kids through the weekend and couldn't wait until Monday. She apologized and said she'd send it through as urgent and hopefully someone would get back to me sooner rather than later. I was PISSED. I thanked her and hung up and then had Dolly help me return the groceries to their rightful shelves all the while trying to figure out how I was going to get food to make it through the weekend.

Just as Dolly and I were getting ready to leave, Crystal, the cashier, caught my arm and asked me to come back to her register, saying she could help. I told her it was fine, not to worry about it but she insisted. Dolly and I walked back over and Sierra, the manager, sent us back out to the store to get the food we'd just returned. I started to cry because I felt so humiliated. We collected up everything we'd put back and went back up to the register with it.

Sierra ran down the list of items from the receipt to make sure we had everything and then she and Crystal each split the cost of my groceries. I hugged them both and thanked them profusely, crying the whole time. I was humiliated that I couldn't even afford food for my kids because the people who owe me money hadn't yet come through, but at the same time I was so extremely grateful for these to complete strangers who stepped up and made sure that my kids had food.

I don't know how I'll ever repay them or if they'll ever know how much their assistance means to me but I do know that these two women deserve the highest praise. Crystal and Sierra, thank you so very much for helping me tonight; my kids and I will always remember this wonderful gift. And if I can't find a way to pay the favor back, I will find a way to pay it forward because that's the way it ought to be. Thanks again. 

Until next time...peace to all.