A woman in Hampden, Maine, was on the giving end of a random act of kindness when she decided to pay for a World War II veteran’s groceries.
Fred Mayhew, 89, was waiting in the checkout line at a grocery store. He was wearing his veteran cap that day — he served as an infantryman for the U.S. Army in 1945 and 1946, according to the Bangor Daily News.
Mayhew, known around town as the Fudge Man due to his frequent deliveries of homemade fudge to the local fire department, was stunned by what happened next.
“I was standing there and I had two $20s in my hand to pay for my groceries when the girl behind me said: ‘Put that back in your pocket. I’m going to pay for that,’” he told the Bangor Daily News. “She told me, ‘Lots of luck,’ and, ‘Thank you for being a veteran.’”
“I’ve never seen her before in my life,” Mayhew added. “I said, ‘What’s going on here?’”
When the veteran returned home from the store, he told his wife, Esther, that he didn’t pay for his groceries.
“I said, ‘What did you do, steal them?” Esther said. “He said, ‘No, a lady came up behind me and told me to put my money in my pocket.’”
The Mayhews had never met the woman who selflessly picked up the tab at the grocery store, but they felt it was important to share the story to let her know how grateful they are for her remarkable act of kindness, reports The Blaze.
“Good things still happen in the world,” Mayhew said.
Sources: Bangor Daily News, The Blaze