Keith Urban Short Cash at Store, so Teacher Pays the Difference Not Knowing Who He Was
There’s an old cynical saying I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve used. It states, “No good deed goes unpunished.”
In my defense, life can seem to work that way sometimes, can’t it? Those seeking the right get scorned, while the ne’er-do-wells succeed.
Fortunately, it doesn’t always turn out that way. Just consider what happened to Ruth Reed of Medford, New Jersey.
Heavy.com reported that Reed had made a habit out of generosity. Rather than look to get whatever she could from others, she tried to help the less fortunate.
“For three years, I have made a resolution to once a week treat someone at WAWA,” she said. “Occasionally, it happens more than once a week.”
Reed’s efforts are the sort of charity that doesn’t make its way into glossy magazines or big newspapers. But it’s no small sacrifice for a substitute teacher.
Still, it can earn unexpected dividends. On August 3, Reed stood in line behind a man who couldn’t pay for his purchases at her local WAWA.
“This man was short a few dollars, (and) he asked a lady with him if she had money,” Reed said, according to People magazine. “I jumped in and said I would pay and explained why.
“He thanked me and asked my name. I asked him his, and he told me it was Keith.”
The man called Keith had apparently been trying to get his credit card to work but had experienced trouble with it. That was when Reed decided to step in.
Yet as she peered at the stranger, she began to think he looked familiar. Then she had it: He was a dead ringer for country superstar Keith Urban.
The teacher proceeded to tell him so, and he said that, in fact, he was none other than the celebrity. However, Reed didn’t believe him.
“I asked where Nicole (Kidman) was and who was the lady,” she recalled. “He told me it was his sister.
“He finally said that I could ask his bodyguard. It was then I realized what an idiot I was.”
That’s a bit harsh, and others have chimed in support of Reed and her kind cluelessness. On Twitter, Erick Sodhi wrote, “Ruth Reed is an unsung everyday hero and, if not for an encounter with Keith Urban, would be living the life of a good person helping others in need in anonymity.”
Amen, Erick. So let’s give Reed a bit of acclaim. We need more of her unsung graciousness in the world.
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