I was in the checkout at Walmart when I heard the cashier say, “Oh no!” The customer ahead of me left a bag behind. From it’s shape, the contents appeared to be ground meat. I ran outside and spotted the man in the lot putting his cart away. I went over and explained he had left something at the register. He and his son thanked me and we all returned to the store. The cashier gave him his bag and he thanked me again. I told him we all forget sometimes.

Someone leaving his grocery bag behind was not my problem. Most people would brush it off and say he could come back later. But that would take time. That is something we can never get back. And he might also be on a schedule that would be thrown off. How often do we wish people would be more considerate and take an extra step to make our life or job easier? But are we taking the initiative for others or are we only thinking of ourselves in those terms? I thought of all this as I loaded my things into my car. And how I not only saved that man a trip back to the store, but a possible ear beating from his wife for leaving tonight’s dinner at Walmart.