Woman's Facebook Post About Target Employee's Act of Kindness Goes Viral

When Sarah Bigler went to a Target store in Indianapolis to pick up a few things, she knew she would leave with a cart full of items, but she didn’t expect she’d be leaving with a “heart full of gratitude.”

Bigler wrote in a viral Facebook post last week that she went to the Glendale Target with her children, hoping to run a quick errand. But when she got in line to pay, she realized her trip would be anything but quick.

“I found a line with just one person ahead of me and began organizing my items on the conveyor,” she wrote. “After placing my items, I look up to see that the person ahead of me was an elderly woman. She was paying for her items with change and wanted to purchase each separately. Part of me, the part that had a long day at work, the part of me who had a 1 1/2 year old having a melt down in the cart, the part that had set an unnecessary timeline for Target and getting home, was frustrated with this woman and the inconvenience she had placed on me.”

What Bigler witnessed in that moment, however, immediately turned her frustration into awe.

The employee at the register, who she identified as Ishmael, patiently helped the woman count her change.

“I watched him help her count her change, ever so tenderly taking it from her shaking hands,” she said. “I listened to him repeatedly saying "yes, mam" [sic] to her. When she asked if she had enough to buy a reusable bag, he told her she did and went two lines over to get one for her and then repackaged her items. Never once did this employee huff, gruff or roll his eyes. He was nothing but patient and kind.”

Bigler went on to talk about how she quickly realized her daughter was “being taught this valuable lesson by a complete stranger.”

“When the woman was finished, the employee began ringing up my items and thanked me for my patience,” she said. “I then thanked him for teaching us patience and kindness by his treatment of that elderly woman.”

Bigler’s post has since been shared more than 21,500 times.

Target did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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