Store Manager Kicks Out Mom of 3 for Taking Expired Food, Apologizes after Boss Steps In — Story of the Day

A woman found expired food outside a grocery store and decided to take it, only to be yelled at by the manager. She threatened to call the police, but the owner appeared and did something unexpected.

Rosemary was heartbroken when she left the grocery store. All she could afford was a bag of bread, two cans of beans, and a pack of cheap cheese.

When she separated from her ex-husband after discovering his affair, Rosemary never imagined she would live so poorly. She had been a stay-at-home mother and didn’t have a job, so she expected her husband to help at least with child support.

However, he managed to kick her and their three children out of their home, and since she couldn’t pay for a lawyer, he got away with paying her nothing. It was so unfair, but she was trying to hold it together.

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Rosemary and her kids were currently staying with a friend, but she couldn’t take advantage of that hospitality for long. She was saving money to afford an apartment, but that meant having almost no money for food, which was heartbreaking for a mother.

“Please, tell me what’s going on,” he insisted, and something in Rosemary broke down.

“Mom, look,” her eldest kid, Michelle, said, pointing towards the side of the grocery store.

“What? The dumpsters?” she asked the little girl.

“There are cans in there with food,” Michelle said and walked closer.

“Wait, Michelle,” Rosemary warned but she walked with the kids to get a closer look.

Her daughter was right. There were untouched cans of food and even some bags of frozen things that looked completely fine. She thought it was odd until she realized they were expired.

“Can we take some of these, Mom?” her son, Justin, asked, grabbing a can and inspecting it.

Rosemary was torn. She never thought she would have to feed her children expired food. But these items seemed fine, and it would be a waste just to throw them out. She had read that grocery stores couldn’t legally sell or give away these things, so food around the country was tossed very often, even when so many poor people were going hungry.

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Rosemary put her pride away and grabbed some of the items.

Suddenly, a female voice yelled, “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?”

Rosemary flinched, and her kids hid behind her. “I’m sorry. It’s just… I thought…”

“Get out of here, you dirty little beggar! You can’t go through our dumpsters! You know what? I’m calling the police!” the woman threatened. Rosemary saw the word “manager” on her nametag.

“Please, don’t do it. My children need this!” she begged, starting to put back the items. She could hear her kids crying, terrified.

“Maybe someone will take those kids away! You don’t deserve them!” the manager continued with her phone on her ear and one foot stomping arrogantly.

“Madison, put down that phone immediately!” a male voice said, and Rosemary saw an older man coming out of the back entrance, looking at the manager with angry eyes.

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“Dad! She’s going through our garbage! That’s not allowed! We could be liable!” Madison whined, but she put her phone down as her father’s expression didn’t waver.

The older man turned to address Rosemary. “Ma’am, would you like to come in?”

“No, sir. I’ll just leave these things here, and I’ll go. I’m so sorry. I thought it would be fine,” she answered, shaking her head.

“Would any of you like an ice cream?” the man asked Rosemary’s kids, smiling.

The kids looked at each other and then up at Rosemary before nodding at the man. He grinned and ushered them into his office inside the building. He asked his assistant to get the kids some ice cream and later allowed them to roam around the office as they ate.

“Ok, so… I want to apologize for my daughter’s attitude. I’m afraid she might have grown pretty spoiled. She’s never had to work hard for anything,” the man started. “My name is Jason. You can call me Mr. Bates too if you prefer. I own this store.”

“I’m Rosemary. It’s really ok. Thank you for the ice cream,” Rosemary replied, looking around awkwardly. She felt so embarrassed about the situation that she couldn’t sit still in the armchair across from this wealthy man.

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“Please, tell me what’s going on,” Mr. Bates insisted, and something in Rosemary broke down. She didn’t have a lot of people to vent to, and not many would be interested because everyone had troubles of their own. But Mr. Bates wanted to know, so she unloaded quietly, trying not to let her kids hear anything.

When she was done, Mr. Bates offered her a full cart of groceries. He also revealed that he owned some properties for rent nearby and offered her a place to say. “I can rent you a place for half the going rate, as long as there’s still a deposit. How does that sound?” he proposed.

Rosemary cried because it was a good offer. She had been saving, but rent prices in their area in Florida were rising, and she thought she would never be able to afford a place. But Mr. Bates’ offer was so generous.

“I’ll take the apartment. But I can’t take the cart. It’s too much. I can’t ever repay you for it,” Rosemary said. “Thank you so much.”

“Actually, you can repay me with hard work. I need someone with heart and soul to work for me. Madison is my daughter, but she doesn’t know how to relate to customers or be a good manager.” The offer was too good it made Rosemary’s eyebrows rise.

“Really? You’re offering me a cart of groceries, an apartment, and a job? Why? What’s the catch?” Rosemary asked, shaking her head and wiping her tears. “It’s just too good to be true.”

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Mr. Bates sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I was once in your shoes. Well, it was my mother. We were dirt poor with no help, and we dumpster-dived. I would look up at the store lights as a little kid and I promised myself that I would own a food shop one day so no one I loved would ever go hungry,” he recounted, his thoughts a million miles away in the past.

More tears filled Rosemary’s eyes, and she knew she had to accept the offer. She was hired as a co-manager in the store for the same salary Madison received. However, the spoiled daughter’s salary was cut in half, and her father started charging her rent as she lived in one of his properties too. She was obviously not pleased about the situation and tried to make Rosemary’s life a living hell.

However, she soon realized that she relied too much on her father’s generosity. She couldn’t afford her rent or her lifestyle without her father’s help.

Even though her situation was not half what Rosemary had been through, Madison apologized to the single mother for having yelled at her. She also asked for Rosemary’s help to understand how to work harder and be nicer to people.

“I know it sounds odd, but being nice to people has never been my strong suit,” Madison confessed to Rosemary.

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Rosemary smiled and promised to help the younger woman, who was never again rude to a customer. Eventually, her father raised her salary again and stopped charging her rent, as he saw her transformation, thanks to being near someone like Rosemary.

Meanwhile, the single mother was doing great. Her apartment was perfect, and she saved as much money for her children as possible. She worked hard and helped at the local soup kitchen when she could. She also convinced Mr. Bates to donate food so that the poorest families in the area wouldn’t go hungry.

What can we learn from this story?

• We find help in unexpected places. Rosemary found help from Mr. Bates, the owner of the store she was stealing stale food from, while Mr. Bates was grateful to Rosemary, a homeless mother of three, for steering his daughter Madison away from her spoiled ways.
• There is no hole too deep to get out of. What seemed like a hopeless situation for Rosemary and her family turned into a promising new life, thanks to the unexpected generosity of a stranger.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a manager who kicked out a homeless woman from the bank until he realized she was his son’s mother.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.