If you’ve ever had a card declined while making a payment, you know the sheer panic that sets in when you literally have to dig up money from somewhere to pay for your purchase. Or when you go to pay for something and your bank card isn’t where it usually is!
Tyson Crawley experienced the panic AFTER he’d already filled up his gas tank, then grabbed a couple cups of coffee. He went to pay the cashier only to realize he hadn’t put his brand new bank card—which was linked to all of his funds—back into his wallet.
He started to freak out as he flipped through his wallet for a back up. He had a joint account but couldn’t remember his pin. “My dog was barking wildly, I had to get to work, and I was starting to freak.” That’s when the man who had previously been in line in front of Tyson, walks back into the shop and asks, “Do you need some money?”
“I replied, ‘No, no, no! I just can’t remember my pin!’” Tyson recalls. That’s when the guy walked over to him and said, ‘It’s fine.’ “I wasn’t quite sure what he meant, but he walked around me towards the register. Within a second, I realized [what he was doing] and said, ‘No, no, no please! It’s ok! I have the money I just can’t remember my pin!’
The clerk at the register was just as surprised as I was. ‘It’s a free country, isn’t it?’ he responds. Isn’t it true that I can assist a brother?’ I was completely taken aback; I couldn’t believe it when I saw the bill: it was more than $110! “It’s not a sum we can afford to squander.”
The stranger took a bit longer to persuade Tyson that it was fine, and because he was out of options, he eagerly accepted the stranger’s offer. Tyson pleaded for his phone number so that he could call him and repay him as soon as possible. The man took out a pen and a receipt to scribble on.
Overwhelmed by everything that had just happened, Tyson asked to take a picture with the man. The two said their goodbyes, but Tyson was still speechless.
“I turned around to the attendant and she said, ‘Well that doesn’t happen every day!’” The man simply wrote, “John. Pass it on.”
The only condition he required for his help was not repayment but to pay it forward. Touched by John’s actions, Tyson shared the story on his Facebook page, and hopes everyone who sees it would remember this: “Please be beautiful people, and remember it’s not about keeping up with the Joneses,
having the biggest house, most expensive car, the largest bank account. [Instead], work with each other. After all, what is money compared to the quality of human life?” As he walked out to his car, Tyson opened the receipt to look at his name and number.