Rich Woman Follows Little Boy Who Takes Leftover Food from Her Garbage Bin Every Day — Story of the Day

One day, Sandra Patinkin saw a little boy rummaging through her garbage cans. He was taking their discarded food. Soon after, she found out that he did this every day and decided to follow him, only to discover something she didn't expect.

Sandra Patinkin's morning was peaceful and tranquil as always. Her husband was at work, and all her children were adults in their own homes. Therefore, she always took her time in the mornings to do her skincare routine in front of her vanity mirror and stare at the view of her front yard.

Her family was insanely wealthy, thanks to her husband's company, and their kids were all successful on their own. For years, they never had to think much or worry about money, except for what they read about world events.

The older woman thought she understood her privilege, but she was about to learn how wrong she was.

***

Sandra was almost done with her skincare routine when she spotted movement in her front yard, which was odd because her gardener was not due that day, and her housekeeper had asked for the day off. Moreover, the neighbors in this suburban area of Connecticut wouldn't approach the house without calling her first.

She had to continue her mission, even if she was out of breath after walking so much, and finally, the little boy stopped walking.

Sandra rose from her vanity, got closer to the window, and looked at the expanse of perfectly-cut green grass toward a little boy who was opening her garbage cans right next to the mailbox. Her brows furrowed in confusion, and her eyes didn't leave him as she tried to decipher what he was looking for. Suddenly, he took some of the takeout containers they had thrown away the previous night.

"Oh, dear. He's searching for food," she muttered quietly and continued watching him. Finally, the little boy placed everything he could find into his bag and walked away. Sandra extended her neck and pointed her toes as far as she could to see where he went. But she soon lost track of him.

She thought about complaining to the HOA or calling the police, but it didn't make sense. Obviously, the kid was hungry and wasn't doing anything precisely wrong. He probably wouldn't return at all. But she was wrong.

The little boy returned every day that week, and he might have been coming for a long time. As Sandra stared at her full pantry and fridge, she felt awful about all the food they had thrown away in the past. To her family, it was trash. But to some people, it was all they could find. Or perhaps the boy was feeding the leftovers to stray dogs. That could be happening too.

In any case, she didn't want to raise the issue with neighbors despite her earlier thoughts in case they stopped him from coming. Her curiosity was intense, and she wanted to know what was happening.

Every night since the first time, she started leaving full containers of takeout so the boy could have decent meals, even if he thought they had been thrown. And her heart broke every time she saw the excitement on his face after discovering them. But he never started eating immediately, and it was time to find out where he was taking all the food.

Therefore, put her running shoes on early the following morning and was ready to follow the kid wherever he went. The little boy was quick, grabbed the takeout containers and everything else he could find, and started walking.

Sandra thought about taking her car, but it might be too conspicuous. So she started following him on foot, hoping he didn't walk too quickly or go through dangerous areas.

After what seemed like hours to the older woman, but it was only about 30 minutes, they finally arrived in a strange neighborhood she had never seen. The boy luckily didn't notice her all this time. The area was not affluent, and she looked around, worrying about getting lost trying to return home.

Still, she was there. She had to continue her mission, even if she was out of breath after walking so much. Finally, the little boy stopped walking, went up to the porch of a shabby little house, and left the food on the doorstep.

Then he rounded the house and seemed to enter through the back. Sandra stayed on the sidelines, trying to figure out why he didn't take the food inside after walking so much to find it. But suddenly, a younger woman who looked tired and frail opened the door.

Despite looking pale, she smiled brightly at the bag of food on her doorstep and looked back into the house. "Jim! They did it again! Someone brought us food!" she called out, and the little boy came to join her, hugging her waist tightly.

"Yay! Let's take it inside to eat, Mom!" the boy said after letting her go, and they went back inside.

Sandra's jaw almost dropped to the floor. The little boy, Jim, went out to find food and pretended like someone else was leaving it on their doorstep. She couldn't understand why. And why didn't they have enough food?

Her family donated enough to charities that pretended to feed the poor and paid a ton in taxes so other people could have government assistance. It still didn't make sense, so she had to do something.

She knocked on the family's front door, and the frail woman came out. "Can I help you?" she asked, her hand covering her mouth with a paper napkin.

"Oh, dear. I interrupted your meal. I'm so sorry," Sandra started. "I'm Sandra Patinkin, and I… well, this is weird to say. But I followed your son from my house."

And she explained everything that happened. By then, Jim had approached his mother, and his face was red as Sandra revealed the entire situation.

"Jim, are you the one bringing this food? And you took it from her garbage?" the tired mother asked the little boy, stunned, then she turned to Sandra again. "Mrs. Patinkin, this will never happen again. I'm so sorry."

Sandra raised her hand and shook her head vehemently. "No, young lady. That's not what I want. I just wanted you to know what your son is doing, and that I think he's a standup young boy. I've been leaving full containers of food for the past few days, but I got a little curious and spied on you just now. I hope you can forgive me for that."

"Oh, well. I still don't approve of rummaging through garbage, but that's my fault in the end," the young woman started. "By the way, I'm Maria. We don't have many options right now. It's my fault that my son is out there looking through people's trash for food."

Sandra felt awful at making Maria ashamed of her situation, so she shook her head again. "No, Maria. No. Don't be ashamed. I can't say that I understand your struggle. But I was wondering if I could help, so that your family never eats anything from the trash again."

Maria invited the older woman inside and revealed her story. Her husband, who was their breadwinner, recently died. They had four kids, all under the age of seven. She couldn't work because she had to watch them, and their government assistance had yet to start.

Sandra asked about going to food banks, but Maria told her that it was so far from her home that she couldn't make that trip anymore. Things were getting dire for them until some bags of food appeared on their doorstep over the past month.

Jim often found packages of untouched food in people's bins, and lately, things had been delicious because of Sandra's actions.

"But that's not enough to maintain your family, dear," Sandra told her after talking for about an hour. "Listen, I have an idea. My housekeeper has been talking about retiring soon, and we have so much room in the house. There's even a pool house that we could convert into the maid's quarter. You'd have a job, and your kids would be safe in my house. And you'd never have to wonder where your next meal will come from."

"That's too much. Too good to be true," Maria said, shaking her head and looking down in defeat until Sandra placed her hand on top of hers.

"Please. I will not be able to sleep knowing that I have so much and a whole family with little kids is going hungry. And this is not charity, because you'd be working for it," the older woman insisted, her eyes pleading with Maria to accept.

The humble woman finally nodded, and Sandra prepared to leave since her walk home would take a long while.

"We could call a taxi for you," Maria suggested.

"No, I'll walk. I need to think hard about my life. But I'll start arranging things, and you guys can move in by the end of the week," Sandra added and waved them goodbye.

During her walk home, she thought long and hard about life. How little she understood her intense privilege and promised herself to do better in the future.

Maria and her kids settled into the house quickly, and she was the hardest worker Sandra had ever met. But the best part of hiring her was that her home was again lively. She thought her peaceful mornings were perfect. But now, she heard the sound of happy kids running in her backyard, which was better than anything else in the world.

She and Jim formed a great bond, and she strived so that he and his siblings had the best education they could have.

What can we learn from this story?

• It's hard to understand your privilege until you see the other side. Sandra thought she knew how lucky she was until she met Jim's family and saw their situation. It was a reality check, and she tried to help them as much as possible.
• The sound of happy children is better than silence. When Maria and her family moved in, Sandra understood that having a big house filled with happy children was much better than being alone.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who fed a little boy she found on her doorstep, and ten years later, they met again.

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.