Two years ago, Helen Martin's daughter was in Sainsbury's, a UK grocery store, when an alarm went off and triggered her anxiety attack. Since then, her daughter has been understandably wary of alarms — but one cashier had the perfect solution to help distract her.
On a post to Sainsbury's Facebook page on Sunday, Martin recalled the stress her daughter went through due to the anxiety she gets from loud noises.
"A few years ago she was in Sainsbury's when they did a fire alarm test and it completely traumatized her," she wrote. "It took 2 years to get her to go back into Sainsbury's and even now we have to ask if there are any schedule alarms before she will venture around the store."
When the two of them were doing some last minute shopping on Saturday, Martin wrote, the lights began to dim to indicate that the store was closing soon. Martin's daughter immediately became upset, thinking that an alarm would go off. And that's when an employee stepped in, distracting Martin's daughter and drying her tears.
"The lady working at the checkout could see something was wrong as I was trying to comfort her to allow me enough time to pay for the shopping, " Martin wrote. "I explained the problem and how the lights dimming had caused her to panic and she was just so lovely."
"She came around the checkout and asked my daughter to help her scan the shopping, coaxed her into her seat whilst we dried her tears and completely distracted her by letting her scan all the food," Martin continued, explaining that the cashier's kindness meant the world to her and her daughter.
"I cannot tell you how much this meant to me and my daughter," she wrote. "I was overwhelmed with gratitude and emotion that she managed to turn such a negative experience into such a lovely one."
Martin also said that she would come back to the grocery store to make sure she gets the recognition and thanks she deserves. After all, the cashier's quick thinking is a perfect example of how seemingly small acts of kindness can mean the world to someone who is struggling — especially those going through mental health struggles.
As Martin writes, "she is a star."