A Heartfelt Gesture at the Grocery Store

Last week, Marie Zvitiashvili moved many online readers when she shared a post about a touching incident that occurred while she was shopping at the supermarket. "As I was choosing products, I suddenly saw an older man slipping something into his coat. It looked very strange to me, so I continued to follow him around the store," she recalls.

According to her, the man picked more and more products and put them in his coat, and then it hit her: "From what I could gather, the person in front of me was stealing. He looked very tense and glanced around before stuffing his coat with another package of pasta, tuna, cottage cheese, and various items. I observed it all and began to feel anxious myself. A million thoughts raced through my mind—should I intervene? Should I stand aside and watch him get humiliated?"

Meanwhile, the 'thief' moved to the deli section and grabbed a package of sausages, but as he slipped them into his coat, a package of margarine fell out. "I saw him looking at it, trying to figure out how to bend down to pick it up without dropping other items, so I approached him and picked up the margarine. Our eyes met, and I saw him sweating and scared. I said, 'Please sir, you dropped this,' and he said, 'Thank you very much,' and turned away."

At this point, the 'thief' walked away from her and headed toward the store exit. "That's when my heart sank, and I decided I couldn't let him go through the humiliation of being caught for food. I approached him and said, 'I saw your coat is full of groceries from the store, and I truly believe you can't pay for them.' The man was choking and began to stammer. I told him the store is full of cameras and it's not worth it for him to get into trouble and also return home without food. I persuaded him to empty everything from his coat into my cart, and we would go together to the checkout, and I would pay for his groceries. He was terribly embarrassed; his eyes filled with tears, but it seemed like he had no other choice."

Marie continues to recount the moment when he stood and emptied everything from his coat into the cart, a moment that left her stunned. "I was shocked to see he really only took basic items just to avoid starvation. I told him to walk with me to the meat department and asked what they eat at home. He insisted it wasn't necessary, and I insisted even more. In the end, we bought groceries that wouldn't shame him at home, went to the checkout, I paid, and we left."

Outside, the man shared with her that he and his wife are parents to teenagers and both have been furloughed for almost a year. "He told me he couldn't secure any position either because of his age or because he can't stand on his feet for long hours. We exchanged phone numbers, and I asked him never to try this again and to always call me instead, and I would do everything to help him. Why am I telling you this? Because so many people in the last year have lost their dignity, money, and everything they had due to the situation. I'm not a millionaire and I've also been affected by COVID—cancelation of events to cuts in orders—because people simply don't have money. I'm asking that you try to share the little you have, try to look and you will be able to see the hardship and need. It's around us, and one day it might happen to us too. Love your neighbor as yourself, with unconditional love," she concludes.

And what do you have to say to this wonderful woman?