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I was just grocery shopping and mysteriously had an extra 90$ on my foodcard. So I exclaimed to the cashier, "wow i love surprise extra money". The person in line behind me said, "i wish i got surprise money". So I took 5$ and tossed it in her bag, she said "No Wait Dont!" but I had already spun around and was on my way out of the store.

So what was that? Good or bad?

A good deed because it was kindness and generousity? Did her stating she didnt want it make it immoral and thus i should have stayed so she could give it back? Did it all happen as it was supposed to so that she would display herself as nonneedy, I could do the kindness, and, by leaving before anything could change, the state of reality was frozen as is for us beings within?

Please tell me whether I'm good or evil; thank you! :)

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[-] vala@lemmy.dbzer0.com 38 points 1 week ago
[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

The BEST kind of good!

[-] roofuskit@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago

If that person really didn't need it's, up to them to pass it on to someone who does. What you did was an act of kindness.

[-] Cruxifux@feddit.nl 12 points 1 week ago

Nah, good deed.

[-] poweruser@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 week ago

I agree with the consensus that this was a good thing to do.

It was perfect to leave before the shopper could reject it because it allows her to save face. Either she did need it but was too proud to admit it, or she actually didn't need it and can just pay it forward.

Since you left quickly it made it clear there was no expectation that she should pay it back to you specifically, which could have had unsavory implications

[-] over_clox@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Good thing for sure!

If it were me and the lady behind me turned it down like that, I'd probably just say something like..

"Well I was blessed today, so I figured I'd pass a bit along. If you're sure you don't need it yourself, then perhaps go buy a meal for a homeless person or buy a kid a toy for Christmas. Pass it forward."

No evil here, you did a good thing πŸ‘

[-] j4k3@piefed.world 8 points 1 week ago

Your username is pUrE EviL. But giving away money is nice. What was it before, Allo IIRC?

Careful doing that with mystery money. If it was a banking error, you may end up on the hook for paying it back and they won't accept that you spent it. Just be aware this is a thing.

[-] allo@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

nice usernaem too :)

this is what it looks like for me (in case u have different emojis). im possessing another body on tuesday tho, and physical forms always have different energies, so I'm about to change to a diff name :)

[-] gustofwind@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago
[-] Zier@fedia.io 5 points 1 week ago

It was a nice thing to give a random stranger something they could actually use. If she felt she did not actually need that, she can easily give $5 to another stranger. Since none of us on the internet were actually there, we really can't judge since we didn't see your or her expression, or tone of voice. Being nice is not a bad thing. You were genuinely nice with no agenda or malice, that's the line between good/bad.

[-] Hello_there@fedia.io 2 points 1 week ago

Chaotic neutral

[-] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

So I took 5$ and tossed it in her bag...

I kinda wish you'd take another $5 and toss it in to finding a better user name.

[-] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org -3 points 1 week ago

You were bragging.

Imagine if you find 90 million instead. You would become thoroughly unbearable.

[-] allo@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

weird thats one i hadnt considered so either i disagree or am not sure i understand. it happened really fast, was an unusual interaction with a questionable moral aspect, so I thought about it in the car, and then brought it up here cuz not sure what my own conclusion is. i like being kind, but i'm also highly against doing things to others against what they want for themselves. For me it was definitely questionable.

Maybe I don't understand you?

Having a foodcard means i'm poor btw, not rich, which I openly egolessly say. i guess just your comment is weird to me and im having a hard time connecting it to anything and not seeing where it's applicable while all the other comments generally make sense and answer it was a morally good thing to do independent of the questionable part.

πŸ˜Άβ€πŸŒ«οΈ

[-] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago

not sure i understand.

I mean you were looking down on her.

i'm poor btw, not rich

But what did you imagine about her wealth? Or her neediness?

Let's turn it around: I am the one with the money now. What if I would offer you in public: I will give you another $90 if I can insult you afterwards, and then you agreed just because you needed the money so badly?

Maybe your next grocery shopping would be secured, but you would be humiliated, even before I started insulting you.

Back to your story: That's why she tried to refuse the 5$. But then you forced it on her.

[-] allo@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

oh interesting thank you for explaining. i do understand! that is sort of what i was thinking as far as wondering if i had done an actual good deed or if it could cause an overall net negative like that. You see the net negative possibility of how it turned out that also caught my attention i think.

unrelated because my behavior wasnt based on it, but in answer to your question she seemed middleclass and not poor nor a scrounger; probably wealthier than me (my behavior was a combination of 'sharing bounty that just befell me, doing good deed, plus she had just wished it'. It was a rare opportunity to instantly fulfill someone's wish. Didn't think of class stuff at all in the moment, but also i rarely do as a person)

thank you for the explanation! I appreciate the perspective!

[-] bluGill@fedia.io -5 points 1 week ago

There are plenty of poor people who could use help and instead you gave it to another middle class person who like all of us finds thingsia little short - but realistically has enough.

it wasn't evil - but it wasn't a good deed. There are better ways to give away money.

[-] Drbreen@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

Great idea! Next time my friend shouts me lunch I'll refuse because I'm another middle class pleb and he should feed a homeless person instead.

this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2025
19 points (80.6% liked)

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