After the big holiday season of shopping, one Target employee still have some of the holiday spirit in his heart. Because he shared a bit of unexpected kindness with a shopper, the brand new Target cashier earned himself a lot of attention and his story went viral.
The 19-year-old Ishmael Gilbert, who was hired to bulk up the store’s staff during the busy months, was spotted helping an elderly woman. But he didn’t just act nice to her – he went above and beyond what you normally see retail employees doing for customers.
Last January when the elderly woman was in line at Target, she realized that she had only change to pay for her purchase and was nervous because she was holding up the line.
Ishmael kindly reminded the woman that she was not an inconvenience. Without elderly woman like her, there would be no younger people. Then he helped her count her change and make her purchase.
He was PATIENT. He took his TIME. He assured her she was a BLESSING. Not a problem.
While Ishmael knew he was being kind, he wasn’t looking for attention. Little did he know but the woman behind the elderly woman in line was watching – and she took out her cellphone and snapped a picture of Ishmael helping the woman.
After expressing her gratitude to Ishmael directly, Sara Bigler, the Target customer who took the photo, shared the picture and her story on Facebook. Like you can probably guess, it went viral thousands of times over.
As he became more famous, Ishmael told reporters that he treated the woman only as he would his own grandma – with respect and kindness. Little did he know that his actions were RARE for young people nowadays.
A few weeks after his initial popularity had blown over, another customer witnessed Ishmael being kind again. But this customer was a manager at a nearby dialysis center. She wanted to offer Ishmael a job – so she asked what his future career goals were. She explained what she did and asked him to call her about the job.
Ishmael seized the opportunity. He made the call. Before long, he was being interviewed. He talked about his viral story during the interview and was hired immediately. He now works as a patient care tech at Fresenius Medical Care.
Ishmael loves helping the dialysis patients. But that’s not all…
As an added bonus, the medical center is funding Ishmael Gilbert’s education and training to become a registered nurse. Ishmael said that this experience has taught him to accept blessings as they come and not to question them too much.
In the video below, you’ll get to hear Ishmael discuss what it is like being a viral sensation. He got fan mail from people in other states!
Here’s what some people said about the clip below in the comments on YouTube.
“This is a perfect example of how appearances are deceptive. What we lack today is our ability to empathize and be kind. He is a gentleman, a rare jewel in this inhumane world.”
“You are a sweet man and be blessed as your doors open. Why you? You deserve it!”
It’s great when good things happen to good people.
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