I left my 6-year-old son at the entrance of a supermarket, holding the bags from our takeout. While I was in line, he suddenly yelled that a woman had taken the bags. Panicked, I ran out and caught up with her, only to hear that she thought the food had been abandoned and wanted to “donate it to someone who needed it.”
At first, I was shocked and a little upset. My son clutched my arm tightly, looking frightened and confused. The woman, likely in her late fifties, seemed embarrassed when she realized the food belonged to us and that a child had been watching it all along. She apologized quietly, explaining she volunteers at a shelter and sometimes people leave food behind.
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