We were standing in line to see “Heaven Is For Real,” at the Grand Theater, in East Greenville, Pennsylvania, when we saw the sign: “Cash only.” The tickets were three dollars. I only had two one dollar bills in my wallet, and the movie was about to start. I overheard a woman behind me say, “Cash only. I don’t have any cash.” She was standing with two children and an older woman.
The older woman said, “It’s okay I have enough to pay for all of us.”
I turned to her and asked, “Excuse me. May I borrow four dollars. Here is my business card. I will mail you a check for the money.”
She returned my business card and said, “It’s okay. Let me buy your tickets.”
“Thank you.”
I cried.
A random act of kindness from a stranger.
Kindness is not random, it is done on purpose.
―Sonya Withrow
I know I could have stepped out of line and tried to find a bank and taken out cash. I am not sure why I didn’t. I don’t know what prompted me to ask. Maybe it was because we were almost to the front of the line, and I didn’t want to get out of line. Maybe it was because it was only four dollars. I wouldn’t have asked if the tickets were twelve dollars. I hate asking for anything, even from friends. And this woman was a stranger.
We were there to see a movie about a little boy that went to Heaven. And for a brief moment, East Greenville, Pennsylvania, felt a little bit like Heaven. When a stranger was kind.
We didn’t have money for popcorn. Our stomachs were empty. But our hearts were full.
Has anyone ever done a random act of kindness for you? Or have you ever been standing in line at a movie theater and asked a complete stranger to buy your movie ticket?
Please tell me in the comments. I would love to know your story.
My daughter just came downstairs and I asked her, “Do you remember what the woman said when I asked her if I could borrow money.”
She said, “Don’t worry about it.”
I thought she had said, “It’s okay.” Then I asked my daughter what I said. She told me I said thank you and started to cry.
Yes, she did tell me not to worry. Now I remember. And now I won’t forget. Because I did worry. I really wanted to mail her a thank you card and a check for four dollars.
Hmmm. Maybe the next time I go out for coffee I will leave four dollars for the next person who buys coffee. Not random, on purpose.
p.s. The movie is worth seeing. It is true to the book, Heaven Is For Real, by Lynn Vincent and Todd Burpo. The little boy did go to Heaven.
And sometimes you find Heaven in a movie line, in the kindness of a stranger.
