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Young Girl Helps Elderly Couple Afraid To Shop After Seeing Them at Store in Tears

By Amanda Thomason March 21, 2020 at 7:50am

Gone are the days when a large percentage of the people lived primarily off the land, tending to victory gardens or doing a little self-sustaining by raising chickens.

Our hunting and gathering skills are mostly relegated to the aisles of the nearest grocery store these days — though in recent times, even that endeavor has become a bit more primeval.

Going grocery shopping is a mundane task for many, but now it’s rife with potential pitfalls. Anyone you meet could be carrying the virus we’re all trying to avoid, and while the young and healthy have been told they have little to fear, the elderly are facing some tough decisions.

Arizona is home to many retirees who find the warm winter temperatures particularly inviting.

Unfortunately, no matter where they go at the moment, there’s an increased risk of them catching the coronavirus. But they can’t just not eat, so many find themselves with no other choice than to take their chances with the mobs at the stores.

In the midst of this panic, an elderly couple found themselves in a Trader Joe’s in Gilbert, Arizona.

List in hand, they ventured in — but not without noticeable distress.

Their tears were spotted by a young woman who quickly found out what their cause was.

According to what an onlooker sent to a Twitter account dedicated to posting acts of kindness originating in Gilbert, she made the couple a heartwarming promise.

“I just witnessed this behind me at Trader Joe’s,” the anonymous bystander wrote. “An elderly couple who had tears in their eyes because they were so afraid to be at the store.

“This young girl gave her phone number and told them she would do any and all shopping from here on out for them.

“Our community is alive, hidden at times by fear, but alive.”

The photo showed an elderly woman with a walker and the young woman, who was holding loaves of bread as her new friend seemed to be checking her list.

Get ready to cry happy tears. ? #GilbertKindness pic.twitter.com/q2id6QnmeU

— Gilbert, Arizona (@GilbertYourTown) March 18, 2020

This little snippet of daily life has encouraged many people to realize that despite the fearful and sometimes hasty actions we’ve been seeing lately, there are still good, caring people out there who are willing to not only help in little ways, but in big ways.

Running errands might not seem like much, but when it’s the difference between having to choose between potentially contracting a dangerous illness or going hungry, it means so much more.

Many hyper-local groups have also shown this kind of heartwarming neighborliness by noticing the needs of those around them and doing what they can to answer those needs.

“So many of my kind neighbors have posted the same,” one person commented on the tweet.

“They have offered to walk [their] dogs. Run errands and shop for neighbors who are at risk or just need help. We have craft supplies left outside their house by another neighbors so kids don’t get bored.”

The Gilbert Twitter account also shared a link to Gilbert’s Neighbor 2 Neighbor program in response to people asking how they could get involved.

“Help a neighbor in need!” the organization’s webpage reads. “Neighbor 2 Neighbor (N2N) has provided a way for Gilbert residents to help support neighbors in need through a monthly utility bill donation, a one time donation or by making a Gilbert Goodies purchase from the on-line Gilbert Town Store!”

Thankfully, many stores have decided to implement “senior shopping hours,” where only the elderly are allowed to shop during the first hours of the store’s opening, providing them with freshly stocked and cleaned aisles.

While this virus scare has left many terrified and others apathetic, it’s a great time to get to know your neighbors (from a safe distance) and come together in our communities to take care of one another.

Such actions result in benefits that will last far longer than any virus.

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