Actually this happened just yesterday.

I work in retail, trying to pay my way through the obscene cost of higher education, and the store I work for just started a fundraiser yesterday. All proceeds, every penny, would go towards finding a cure for type one diabetes. I worked from open to close as a cashier but I hauled my keister out of the break-room during my break to donate five bucks because I like to think I’m not a despicable human being.

However, the number of people who “donated” the day before was really starting to piss me off. Maybe seven hours into my shift, a mother and daughter come up to my register. I rang them out and like a good little robot asked them if they’d like to donate a dollar. The mom had the audacity to look at me, smile smugly and say, “Oh, I’ve done it every time this week. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

I remember the conversation clearly from there.

“Really?” I asked. “That’s pretty amazing.”

She agreed, “It is.”

With a smile I know was too wide and didn’t reach my eyes, I said, “It always warms my heart when I see parents leading by example. I’m so glad you’re teaching your daughter to value the quality of life of children over a few measly bucks. What’s a dollar compared to the suffering a kid, heck the whole family, has to go through? Isn’t that right?”

The daughter gave her mother a hateful look and the mother was mortified and scrambled to grab her bags and leave.

“Thank you so much for donating, ma’am,” I called out as she rushed out the door. “Be sure to come back anytime next month, because we’re collecting donations through the month of September!”