Drugstore worker learns mom-of-3 couldn't afford the medicine her kids needed, so they did the unexpected

One day, a drugstore employee (@feywildwest on Tumblr) was tallying the cash drawer, realizing it held enough to cover their rent. However, they couldn’t afford medicine if they got sick. As they pondered this, a mother of three sick children walked in. She couldn't afford the medicine her kids needed. In a brave move, the employee decided to help her, despite risking their job. This heartfelt story was later shared in a Reddit post by u/sharpiescentedsoap in r/aboringdystopia.

When the employee totaled the mom’s bill, it was nearly double what she could afford. “Her youngest screams in the cart because she's burning up with fever. Her mother very quietly asks, please, she's so sorry, if I could please take the more expensive one off her total,” @feywildwest described. The employee then did something bold and brave. They moved the box below the counter and quietly slipped it inside the mom’s bag. “I pray as hard as I can that if she notices the ‘mistake’ she says nothing because I so desperately want her to have that medicine,” wrote the employee.

The definition of right and wrong often changes with context. Sometimes, doing the wrong thing can be right when it helps those in need. So, when @feywildwest was faced with this dilemma that pitted their job’s code of conduct against their responsibility to humanity, they chose humanity, which, despite being unethical, was the right thing to do. The mom had more to lose than the company had to gain from that one box of medicine.

“The myth of evil employees stealing from the company falls apart the second you realize the company would shoot you dead to make a profit. This isn't two equal players, one of whom is stealing from the other. This is someone fighting for survival versus someone fighting to make an extra million. It's not equal. Employees should be able to steal, actually,” the employee said concluding the post, and the post hit people hard. On Reddit, the post has been upvoted by 54,000 people. 1,900 people left their comments on the heartbreaking situation. Many people said it was akin to “dystopian,” referring to the soaring medical costs in America. “Even if everything else about this country was perfect, I'd still be so goddamn ashamed that our medical system has become so utterly f****d,” wrote u/sharpiescentedsoap.

Assuring @feywildwest, u/jackelope84 commented, “Stealing for the sake of a child's health isn't stealing. It's justice.” u/lpinthed, a nurse and a soup kitchen volunteer, shared an experience similar. While working in a soup kitchen, they came across a poor old gentleman who had asthma and needed a rescue inhaler. “I pocketed a couple of inhalers - which I then gave to this man the next time I saw him at the shelter. I know that stealing is wrong, but I was worried about this guy and I did what I thought was right and humane at the time,” they described. They were caught by the authorities and lost their job. “But I have no regrets for helping that man whatsoever.”

u/penniless_witch expressed disdain for the medical system, saying, “What is more telling is that medicine that is needed to live is super expensive while the narcotics that you can easily get addicted to are a like a buck. Then we wonder why we have so many addicts and ill people who can't work in this country.”