A man who recently made Arizona his home got an unexpected welcome gift from a stranger when his card was declined at the Target checkout line.
Howard Gipson, 52, was stocking up on home supplies at the Target in Ahwatukee earlier this month and had racked up $367 worth of goods when he discovered he couldn’t pay for them, KPHO-TV reported.
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“No way. I was like no way,” Gipson said he thought to himself when he card didn’t go through. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Gipson, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, had recently moved to Arizona from California and was being helped by his friend, Coralea Gosnell.
As it turns out, someone behind them in line wanted to help too.
Another customer discreetly paid for Gipson’s tab and then took off, Gipson said.
Gipson tried to hurry out to the parking lot to thank the man himself, but he was nowhere to be found.
Gosnell said the random act of kindness “makes you wake up with a smile in the morning.”
“With so much ugly in the world right now, somebody steps up and does something like this,” she said. “It just makes you rethink everything. It gives you a positive.”
Gipson added, “There’s good everywhere. It just takes people to do it. Just do it. And when somebody does it, just accept it and be grateful.”
The pair are now inspired to pay it forward. After Corelea wrote about the experience on Facebook, dozens of people responded, saying they would give back this holiday season themselves.
“We will pay it forward,” Gosnell said. “… Our hearts are overfilled, and we’ll definitely make sure we get it paid back.”
'There's good everywhere': Stranger discreetly pays nearly $400 bill for Target customer https://t.co/3mCVKY3Br9 pic.twitter.com/MGDiD2oMS2
— WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) November 25, 2018
While Gipson would like to thank the good Samaritan in person, he sent him a message via the news station.
“I just hope he’s watching this,” Gipson said. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
(H/T: KHPO-TV)