A Moment at the Supermarket

     I am not looking to be congratulated, or to make a political statement or to comment on the state of our society.
     I am writing this because it is something that happened to me, and I can't seem to write about anything else until I put this out.
     A few days ago, I went directly from my pilates class to the supermarket across from the gym to pick up a few things.  When I got on line, a couple in their late 20s were in the process of purchasing their groceries.  The man was standing at the bagging station and the woman was studying the computer price read-out.  I heard her say, "I thought the cereal was on sale."  She turned to the man for instructions about what to do.  He told her to put the several boxes of cereal back.  Then she held up a can of Spam and questioned the price of that.
     It was obvious that this couple could not afford to buy even cheap food staples.
     I suddenly felt embarrassed to be wearing my exercise outfit and carrying the wonderful Gucci bag that Edward had so generously presented me with for Valentine's Day.
     I imagined that they were the working poor -- people who made too much money to qualify for food stamps but not enough to adequately feed their family.
      I decided that I had to do something to help them, but I was also concerned that in my desire to be generous, I would do something that the couple found humiliating.  I didn't have a lot of time to think about it either.
      I turned to the woman and told her that I wanted to pay for the boxes of cereal.  She smiled at me, immediately said thank you, and I could see visible signs of relief.
      I imagined that there were kids at home, and they would now have their favorite cereals to eat in the morning.
      The man walked away without a word, and I assume that I did indeed humiliate him or perhaps cause the couple to later argue about this incident.  An added element is that I am Caucasian and they are African American.
       I tried to make it better by telling the woman that she will do this for someone else someday.
       Maybe that made it worse.  It was only $15 worth of cereal, for God's sake.
       She paid for her $60 food order with a credit card, and I thought maybe I should just pay for that as well.  I didn't, not because I didn't want to spend the money, but because I didn't want to make her feel more indebted to me.
        She couldn't have been nicer, and there were few words between us, but it was an awkward experience for all of us, even the cashier.  After the couple left, the cashier told me how I did a nice thing.
        She was, however, so unsettled that she forgot to give me my change.