A Strangers Note on My Grocery Receipt Changed My Day, and Maybe My Faith in People

That receipt still sits on my kitchen counter. The ink is fading, but I keep it as a quiet reminder of what kindness looks like—small, intentional, and often invisible. We pass hundreds of people each week, each wrapped in their own noise, their own hurry. Most of the time, we don’t see each other. But sometimes, someone chooses to look.

It wasn’t the note itself that mattered—it was the care behind it. A stranger, in the middle of her own day, saw something I missed and chose to act. No credit. No expectation. Just decency.

The world can feel sharp and impatient—people scrolling past each other, eyes down, hearts guarded. But moments like this remind me: goodness still lives here. It’s in the woman who notices, the man who holds the door a little longer, the neighbor who checks in just because.

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