Aussie shopper left shocked after Woolworths staff's act of kindness

A Woolworths staff member has shocked a stressed shopper with an unexpected act of kindness.

When attempting to pay at the self-checkout, and then at a staffed checkout, her phone payment didn't work. After a few more attempts, her newborn baby started getting restless so the staff member told her not to worry. "It's on me," they said.

When the shopper asked if she could transfer money to the staff member, they insisted. At this point, her baby was screaming so she accepted the offer and promptly left.

"I was so grateful and also mortified," she said.

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She was so stunned that she took to Reddit to ask if it was okay to go back to the store and thank the staff member.

"I want to go back and give her something to say thank you, but don't want to get her in trouble if she's done something she's not supposed to have done," wrote the Reddit user.

Most were happy to see this act of kindness but agreed that it wasn't worth the risk to thank the staff member.

"Maybe accept the kindness shown and pay it forward to someone else in need. In that way, you don't risk getting the staff member in trouble," wrote a commenter. 

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Another said that the act was likely not illegal as store policies tend to lean "a lot harder towards getting people to come back again and not having a lot of waves made in the store rather than risk someone either involved or standing off to the side not coming back again."

"The stock will probably be written off," they added. "The small amount your groceries cost is less than a rounding error for an average day at Woolworths."

However, this is not an invitation for others to point to this story and harass low-level supermarket workers for free groceries. These incidents can still get staff in some trouble and even if retail workers have some kind of 'flex' policy.

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One commenter said, "It's not just about paying less, but just being genuinely decent. It goes a long way for everyone." 

Another Redditor who said they work in retail said it was tempting to do this everyday, especially when working in low-socioeconomic areas. However these 'flex' systems can prompt entitled shoppers who hear stories like this to harass and intimidate supermarket staff.

"Most merchants are kind at heart, but they can't let their guard down because others ruin it for the rest of us unfortunately. And that's why sometimes store people get in trouble for this kind of stuff."