Have you ever visited the grocery store and met a cashier who made your whole day? Some of the most caring, generous and friendly people work in these customer service roles, and they really can make the whole shopping experience so much more enjoyable.
Ms. Rita Burns is one of these cashiers. She works at a Walgreens in Houston, Texas, and has a heart of gold.
Though Ms. Rita had already proved her loving personality through her interactions with customers, she went one step further on the afternoon of September 7, when she met a customer called Rina Liou.
Speaking to KHOU about her shopping trip like no other, Rina recalled:
“I’m just going to make a dash to Walgreens. And I never go there. I go there and I get my light bulbs. And when I went to pay, my heart just sank.”
It turned out that in her hasty dash out the door, Rina had picked up her husband’s phone instead of her wallet. She knew her husband had Apple Pay, so she stood at the checkout, trying to figure out how to use the app, growing increasingly agitated with every minute.
But her cashier, Ms. Rita, swooped in to save the day, telling Rina that she’d pay the total for her. This was despite the fact that she’d just paid off her own bills that day, and only had $20 left in her account.
According to Ms. Rita, she could see that Rina really needed the money, and that’s why she offered to help. She recalled:
“I just looked up at God and said, I guess I’m going to do it.”
Ms. Rita prayed there would be enough funds in her card as she used it to make Rina’s payment. Luckily, the payment went through.
Rina wasn’t the sort of person to accept charity when she didn’t need it, so she returned home, collected her wallet, and drove straight back to the Walgreens.
Here, she returned the cash to Ms. Rita, along with a bunch of flowers and a thank-you note. She snapped a photo with Ms. Rita, then shared her story to Nextdoor.
It turned out that hundreds of locals in Houston were familiar with Ms. Rita and agreed that she was one of the kindest people they knew. One person wrote:
“Rita is the happiest, best employee that Walgreen’s has to offer in normal circumstances.”
Kindness. A thread.
Last Monday Rina ran to a @Walgreens.
The realtor was about to show a house. Needed to replace light bulbs.
But, she forgot her wallet.
Rita, the cashier, paid the $12.41.
Rina & Rita were strangers.
Rita only had $20 in her bank account. pic.twitter.com/i9vQQoSSqC— Melissa Correa (@KHOUmelissa) September 14, 2020
Someone else added:
“Rita is the best!! She is such a lovely person and always remembers me by name and always asks how my mom is doing.”
There was so much mutual love and respect for Ms. Rita that a fundraiser was set up in the kind-hearted employee’s name. The description reads:
“Ms. Rita at Walgreens is a neighbor in the truest sense of the word. When a customer needed to buy lightbulbs in a rush but had forgotten her wallet, Ms. Rita wanted to pay “but only had $20 in [her] account.” When she realized the bulbs were 50% off, she paid without hesitation using her own debit card.
“Until Walgreens and our country pays our essential workers more, let’s step up to make sure Ms. Rita has more than $20 in her account. She has given us so much kindness, and we would love to show her how much she means to us.”
This is exactly the uplifting story we needed to hear today! You can watch a video featuring Ms. Rita, the woman of the moment, just below.
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