Retired Teacher Overwhelmed by Kindness of 4 'Angels' in Line Behind Her at Walmart
Teachers sacrifice a lot for the sake of their career and to improve the lives of the people they are charged with educating. Oftentimes, teachers are the ones who go out and spend their own money to make sure their classes will be fully stocked.
Many people don’t think about teachers or education in general, but until you’ve been charged with wrangling large groups of kids for nearly half a day, week in and week out, and you’ve spent blood, sweat, and tears trying to help kids learn, you don’t know how difficult it is.
The difficulties don’t end there, though. Many teachers run into financial issues because they just aren’t paid well. The compensation does not always reflect the effort, patience, and talent, the job requires.
Barbara Barbin, a woman in Pearland, Texas, is enjoying her retirement. A former teacher, she now spends her time in artistic and musical pursuits.
According to ABC 13, she was recently at Walmart, grocery shopping with her legally blind grandson, when she encountered an issue bigger than she could handle.
Her cart was loaded up, all her things were scanned, and then her card was declined. No matter what she tried, it would not accept her payment.
“(I told the cashier) let me go to the teller machine to try to see if I can get it to work,” Barbin said. When she failed to get the card to take, she felt a sense of shame.
But little did she know that someone had other plans for her. Without asking or making a fuss, a man who’d seen what was happening rallied with a few other customers in line and then presented her with a gift.
“A gentleman walked up behind me and put $140 in my hand to pay for groceries,” Barbin said. Completely unexpected, yes, but just what she needed at that moment.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, that was so kind.'”
“In times like this,” she continued, “me being a black woman, they were four white men … They just came up because they felt the need.”
“I was just overwhelmed then as I am now, and I was grateful and thankful,” she said.
The man who spearheaded the effort was a veteran and knew what Barbin was going through because he’d been there himself.
He’d needed a helping hand and had never gotten it — but that didn’t make him bitter, vindictive, or greedy. It pushed him to help others as he would’ve wanted to be helped.
“I’m just overwhelmed and thankful,” she repeated. “They reflect the kindness that was meant by God.”
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