Option #2

I went to Aldi grocery store this afternoon. When I arrived I noticed the outside air temp to be 104 degrees. It was hot! I was still in a skirt and sandals as I'd been at work all day, but I just had to get some food for dinner tonight, and food for the weekend.

I parked further down the store to be able to park in the shade. This had me just a space or two past all the handicapped parking places. I was just happy to be able to park in the shade and not walk in the full sun! I had my quarter ready to be able to retrieve a grocery cart. Got my cart, ran through the store, bought and bagged the food, and again went back down to my truck shielded in the shade. Once I put my food in the back of my Tahoe, I mentally debated: do i return the cart and get my quarter back (I mean, how important is a quarter, you know?), or do I leave the cart alongside the grocery store so the next handicapped person who arrives and parks gets a cart right at their parking place, and a cart they don't have to pay a quarter for. I opted for Option #2, and carefully parked the cart alongside the store hoping the free cart would bless someone, thinking him/her to be a handcapped driver.

As I pulled out of my parking place, I got a not-so-friendly glare from another closely-parked customer. I then thought maybe I'd made a mistake! I always return my cart - by not returning this one I'm a huge loser! But then God blessed me...

As I drove very slowly towards the exit, I see a mom and her three kids near the entrance of the store looking around for something... They were looking for a cart! The approximately 9-year old son saw my cart alongside the store, runs down to retrieve the cart, and runs back to give it to his mother. Ahah...Option #2 worked, just not in the way I had thought it would.

This family probably didn't have a quarter on them. I've been there. Decide to stop by Aldi for just a few things and leave there making multiple trips to the car trunk because I don't have a quarter for a cart. This family was blessed by the cart, and all I was out was a quarter and a not-so-friendly glare from an unsympathetic customer.

So what was the right thing to do? Return the cart, get the quarter, and miss the blessing of seeing this family be excited about finding a free cart? Or putting up with the glares of others and blessing others?

I chose option #2.