The old lady stood in the checkout queue with her three items.
She took out her purse and began counting the change. Shoppers moved forward and she had room on the conveyor belt for her tin of stew, carton of milk and a tin of cat food. The checkout girl greeted her with a perfunctory smile. She deftly scanned the items and called out the cost. The pensioner frowned. Her bony fingers raked around in her purse.
After a moment, she pushed the stew to one side.
Her old eyes looked into the young face. “I’ll leave that, if you don’t mind, dear.”
The girl felt a swell of emotion, but she understood and only said, “Of course, miss. That’ll be fine.”
With coins and items exchanged, the girl’s smile was now extra warm as she wished her a good day.
As the old woman moved off through the shops, walking slowly with her bag, the girl paused to watch her go.
She’ll be telling her friends about this for weeks.