By Gabriella Payne
We’ve all been running on empty lately but despite these challenging times, a few good samaritans are doing their bit to ensure everyone in the community has something to smile about.
It’s one thing for a stranger to pay for your coffee or a meal, but when Emerald local Louisa Crosby went to pay for her full tank of fuel recently and discovered that someone else had already covered the cost, she was left speechless.
“I’d just gone to the fuel station on Sunday morning to top up for going to work on Monday, and I walked in and the lady behind the counter said, ’oh that guy has just paid for your fuel already’,“ Ms Crosby explained.
“I thought ’what? I don’t know him’ and so she said ’go check, make sure it’s not a mistake’, so I went up to the guy as he was getting into his car and I asked if he had paid for my fuel and he said ’yes, you’re welcome and have a wonderful weekend’.“
“I was just blown away and said thank you, but I didn’t quite know what to say! I just got back in the car with a big smile on my face,“ Ms Crosby said.
Being a nurse who is still able to work throughout Covid lockdowns, Ms Crosby said that she felt slightly guilty, as she knew there were people in the community worse off than her – but the gesture in itself absolutely made her day and she couldn’t thank the kind stranger enough.
“The fact that someone would do this for no other reason than to spread a bit of joy and happiness in such difficult times blew me away… what a beautiful gesture,“ Ms Crosby said.
“It was such a nice feeling. It really put a smile on my face and was just so nice for my mental wellbeing as well.“
“Being a nurse, part of our philosophy is to share an act of kindness whenever we can, and I think even just a small act of kindness as you’re going about your day to day business and sharing a bit of joy with other people is really understated, but just a really nice thing to do.“
It seems what goes around really does come around, as Ms Crosby’s free, full tank of fuel has inspired her to spread her own bit of joy through the community.
“I definitely will be paying it forward; I actually just went to the local cafe and put some money to one side for someone doing it tough – not that I want that public gratification for myself, but I thought if someone did it for me then I can do it for someone else,“ she said.
“It’s just great to see that there are still people out there that will go that extra mile for others.“
