Mississippi Walmart Clerk Helps Nervous Man Count Out Change

As we fidget in line as a customer ahead of us counts out change to pay a bill, eager to get on our way, we can all take a lesson in empathy from a Mississippi Walmart cashier who calmed a nervous customer. Spring Herbison Bowlin did and put people in the moment with her widely circulated Facebook post.

As she stood in line, the customer ahead of her shot her an apologetic look and pulled handfuls of change from his pockets. “He miscounts and starts to get flustered,” Bowlin wrote. “Gives me a muttered ‘I’m so sorry.’ His hands and voice are shaking.”

And then, the teachable moment from the cashier:

“This beautiful cashier takes his hands and dumps all the change on the counter and says, ‘This is not a problem, honey. We will do this together.’ He continues to apologize to both of us as we reassure him it's ok. They get his transaction handled and he shuffles away.

“I looked at this wonderful woman and said, ‘Thank-you for being so patient with him.’

‘She shakes her head and replies, ‘You shouldn't have to thank me, baby. What's wrong with our world is we've forgotten how to love one another.’

“I want to be more like her.”

Bowlin said in a comment on the post that she called and spoke with the store manager after she returned to work and shared what she had witnessed. A friend who works as a district manager for Walmart saw Bowlin’s post and also shared with her coworkers and the store’s manager. “I hope this sweet lady gets the kudos she deserves,” Bowlin wrote.

The post, which Bowlin uploaded Thursday, has gained a life of its own. It has been shared at least 20,645 times, has generated at least 34,000 “likes” and prompted a thousand or so comments, including some in which users shared their own stories of human kindness.

“I've also seen older people lose count while counting cash, and people get so frustrated,” a woman who said she was a cashier wrote. “Their minds are slowly going down, they need a little time and patience from everyone. My papa got looked at like he was stupid so many times, but it was because he was developing Alzheimer's. Nobody had patience with him and it broke my heart.”

“Awesome,” another person wrote. “ Yes people need to learn to learn to love again. I had a instance at work and I had to step in and help an older gentleman because he couldn't read the box on the merchandise. I felt so sorry for him...i dropped what I was doing just to help him.”

One woman recalled working at Walmart during the holiday season. “On Christmas Eve, almost time to close and I have this young mother come through my lane. I scan everything (some candies for stockings, cookies for Santa etc). She pays with her food stamp card, but couldn't get the cookies for Santa,” she wrote.

Her inclination was to pay for the cookies, but that’s against Walmart policy, and she also didn’t have her wallet at the register. So the woman walked away without the cookies and stood in the front of the store waiting for her ride.

“This older gentleman behind her puts his items on the belt and basically grunts all his answers at me,” the woman wrote. “I thought he resembled Scrooge on Christmas Eve when he said he would take the cookies the young mom in front of him couldn't afford. Yes, I was irritated. He was taking the cookies I wanted to purchase for her as soon as I clocked out (he was my last customer and I planned to approach the mother and ask her to wait). I scan the cookies and place them in a bag on the bag spinner thing. He pays and picks up the cookies, walks over to young momma and said, ‘I think Santa needs these to keep his energy. Merry Christmas.’ And off he went.

“And that, my friends, is the day that I learned that you absolutely can not judge a book by its cover.”

Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images News/Getty Images