Stranger Picks Up Family's $211 Bill At Iowa Walmart Before Christmas
An Iowa family received a Christmas surprise when a stranger paid for their shopping bill at Walmart on Friday, Dec. 21.
Altoona-native Ruby Modlin had her $211 bill at Walmart paid for just days before Christmas. Modlin was with her husband and grandchildren shopping for food and cooking supplies, when she first noticed that she was being followed by a strange man.
"I kept noticing this man, and I'd smile at him," Modlin said to KCCI News.
At first she thought the stranger might have been someone from her high school, but found out his true nature when she arrived at the register. The stranger walked in front of Modlin in line and swiped his credit card before her husband could pay.
Modlin relayed the verbal exchange to the Iowa news station: "I said, 'What?' He said, 'I'm paying for this.' I said, 'No, you're not.' He said, 'Yes, I am.' "
The stranger told Modlin to have a "Merry Christmas," which brightened her mood since she recently spent the past six months in the hospital for liver failure treatment.
"I was still standing there in shock. We were too busy crying, and the register people were smiling," Modlin said.
The anonymous giver told Modlin that he was at the Walmart with his wife and daughter and that they picked the sick grandmother out in order to do something nice in the spirit of Christmas.
This is not the only act of anonymous kindness that happened during the holiday season.
A group of generous people known as the "Layaway Angels" have gone to the layaway counters at retail stores to pay off the balance of strangers' purchases, according to Yahoo! Finance. The trend has spawned a nationwide phenomenon and brightened the holidays of thousands of families.
