The Spirit of Giving
One snowy December, I was rushing around trying to get some
last minute Christmas shopping done. I was stressed out and
not thinking very fondly of the Christmas season just then.
It was dark, cold and wet in the parking lot as I was loading
my car up with gifts that I felt obligated to buy.
I noticed that I was missing a receipt that I would probably
need later on, so muttering under my breath, I retraced my steps
to the mall entrance.
As I was searching the wet pavement for the missing receipt,
I heard a quiet sobbing nearby. The crying was coming from a
poorly dressed girl, who guessed was about 12 years old. She
was short and thin, and had no coat.
She was just wearing a ragged flannel shirt to protect her
from the cold winter night's chill.
Oddly enough, she was holding a hundred dollar bill in her
hand.
Thinking that she had gotten separated from her parents and
was lost, I asked her what was wrong. She told me her sad story,
she said that she came from a large family of three brothers
and four sisters. Her father had died when she was 9 years old.
Her mother was poorly educated and worked two full time jobs,
from which she made very little to support the family.
Nevertheless, she had skimped and saved $200 to buy Christmas
gifts for her children. The young girl had been dropped off
by her mother on the way to her second job, given the money
and told to buy presents for the kids and save just enough to
take the bus home.
She had not even entered the mall, when a young man grabbed
one of the $100 bills and disappeared into the night.
Why didn't you scream for help?" I asked.
"I did." said the girl.
"And no one came to help you?" I wondered.
The girl stared at the sidewalk and sadly shook her head.
"How loud did you scream?" I inquired. The soft spoken
little girl looked up and meekly whispered, "Help me!"
I realized that absolutely no one could have heard this poor
girl's cry for help.
So I grabbed the other 100 bucks and bolted to the car.
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