A mum was left stunned after a kind stranger paid for her shopping in Tesco after asking her daughter if Santa was real. Beth, 49, says she was perplexed when a woman asked her child if she "believed in Father Christmas or Santa", reports the Liverpool Echo.
The 49-year-old was out shopping with her husband, Paul, and three of her children in Merseyside when the bizarre interaction occurred . She says she saw the stranger approach her daughter whilst she was packing away her shopping at the checkout with her kids.
Beth said: "The kids were helping me put things into bags and a lady came over and spoke to one of my children. She said 'Do you believe in Father Christmas, or Santa? My daughter would probably say yes to anything because she probably didn't understand - and she said she did [believe].
"[The stranger] then said, 'Well I'm going to pay for your shopping.' I was a little bit gobsmacked and said, 'No, no don't worry', and said all the British things you would say and she said, 'No, no, no, no I want to pay for your shopping.'"
Beth says the mystery woman wouldn't take no for answer and insisted on paying for the items. She added: "She insisted on paying, she wouldn't tell us why. She wouldn't tell us what her name was.
"She said she was a banker and she'd had a good year and that she wanted to bless some people. She said she'd done it a few times and off she went, and that was it. I gave her a hug and that was it."
The mother-of-seven says the gesture meant even more with the family currently struggling for cash due to strikes. Beth said: "My husband's been on strike recently and not been paid for strike days at the moment. Things have been a lot tighter at the moment, but she wouldn't have known that. We were just incredibly appreciative of it, it was very timely.
"It was £140 as well it wasn't a little shop as well, she knew that already though. When I run it back in my head I think I should've done this and that, but because I had my kids and my husband, I didn't really have time to process it really.
"If I could speak to her again I'd just tell her how incredibly grateful I am. It was just incredibly kind and thoughtful, especially in this world where people just take and take for themselves and are so inward looking.
"I'd want to tell her how much it's really blessed us as a family, not just in possessions but it's given us a real sense of joy and such a lovely feeling over the weekend. I saw a really lovely side of humanity, when everything is so negative out there at the moment."
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