I had an amazing experience at the Halifax Farmers’ Market on Saturday.
Eating local is important to me, and having a connection to the people who grow the food I eat gives me a sense of groundedness. I love my Farmers’ Market, and going there every Saturday, in the early morning hours before the sightseers, is a real ritual for me.
As many of us do today, I need to be careful how I spend my money. So I had gone through the market, picking and choosing what I would bring home. Towards the end of my shopping, I knew I had to keep some money back to buy eggs. So I finished my shopping by buying some beautiful local organic broccoli, zucchinis and kale, making sure I had four dollars left to get some eggs on my way out. But when I got to the stall that sells eggs, I discovered that they had gorgeous local strawberries, as well as eggs. This threw me for such a loop, as I only had the four dollars left: what would it be -the protein of the eggs, or the luscious luxury of these beautiful strawberries? What made it worse is that the vendor said this was their last week for strawberries!
I was torn, but had just decided to go for the eggs, because my daughter would need them more than I wanted the strawberries, when a lady, picking out a box for herself, became aware of my dilemma, and simply offered to buy a box of strawberries for me! At first I didn’t want to accept, but she insisted, saying “Pay it forward! It’ll come back around to me somehow, take them, here you go!”
I was genuinely touched, but kept rummaging through my purse, hoping I might find some hidden coins. She had already paid for ‘my’ strawberries and was turning to cheerfully leave, when I found a two-Euro coin, from my trip to visit my mother back in May. I held it out to her and said “Here … maybe you’ll go to Europe one day?”. To which she replied: “Actually, we are indeed going to Europe, thank you!”
We had a good laugh. This exchange made our day.
There is beauty, joy, and basic goodness around everywhere!
And the stranger’s generosity made those strawberries taste even better.
