Texas Neighbors 'Pay It Forward' After Cashier's Act Of Kindness
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - What is the cost of kindness? For a North Fort Worth cashier, it was $6.
"So, I'm walking up to pay for my goods," recalls customer Karridy Askenasy, "and he's apologizing, 'I'm so sorry, sir, this lady's running out to her car to get some money.' I looked outside, and I'm like: 'the lady that's driving away?'"
Askenasy, who was at the store to pick up a prescription, says the cashier, later identified as Christian Griffan, looked disappointed for barely a moment, before reaching into his wallet.
Initially discouraging the cashier Askenasy said, "I'm like 'you're gonna pay for that? You shouldn't pay for it… you've got cameras, get her plates and get her back here to pay for it!' And he was like, 'nah, she had formula.'"
Enough said.
Askenasy was so impressed with the young man's compassion that he shared his story on NextDoor, a neighborhood social media site and Facebook. And you can guess what happened next. Forget the prescription—the kindness was contagious! The story has been shared hundreds of times and garnered several thousand likes.
Neighbors began showing up to reimburse him the cost of the baby formula—but, others, familiar with the friendly clerk, wanted to do even more. "Before I knew it, I had $200 and people coming to me to give me money," says Askenasy. "What's so cool is that I didn't solicit it. I just wanted to give neighbors an opportunity to recognize this young man."
So easy going cashier Christian Griffan was in for a surprise—the next gift card he rang up wouldn't be going very far. "I slid it back to him and said 'no, that's yours—that's from your neighbors, we appreciate you.'"
Needless to say, he was stunned… telling Askenasy, "Are you for real? No man, really?"
Paying it forward, was pure pleasure. "It took me a moment to convince him that it was his," says Askenasy, "really nice to shake his hand."
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)