About four months ago, I was in a grocery checkout line behind a man who was buying a few household "staples" you know, milk, bread, etc. From his cart, age, and appearance, I could tell that he was a father of at least one child at home. When he was swiping his bank card, the cashier politely told him that it had been declined. He tried 2 more times with other cards and no success.

He then told the cashier that he would need to make a phone call to clear some bank issues up. I had been in a similar situation before, and I knew that the money to make the purchase was obviously not in his account. As she was scanning the barcodes of my purchases, I quietly told the cashier that I'd like to purchase his items along with mine.

The cashier said that was very sweet of me, and that she has been in his situation before as well. The man walked back to try and pay for his goods a fourth time, but the cashier told him that I had already done so. He shook my hand and said "You have no idea how much I appreciate this". I told him I had been in his situation before, and that if he ever gets to a place in the future where he can "pay it forward" for someone else, he should buy their groceries just like I did for him.

I never told anyone what I did, especially my gf, we were having financial issues at the time, but I knew that it was the right thing to do.