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HOUSTON — Power outages caused by severe winter weather in Texas left a number of residents searching for necessities at the store to help them ride out the cold snap. But with the power out, credit card machines stopped working, meaning that many Texas stores could only accept cash.
Jason Spencer, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Public Affairs Officer, was one of those in line looking to buy some drinking water at a local Foodarama when it lost power.
“The line of customers wrapped around the entire inside of the store as two cashiers worked their tails off to ring everyone up. I’d made it about 1/4 of the way when the power went out,” Spencer wrote on Twitter.
He said those in that long line worried that the store would have to close its doors, but they didn’t.
Instead, Spencer said the employees at the Texas store told those waiting they would stay open, but purchases would need to be cash only.
“I had a little cash. But many didn’t and they prepared to leave,” he said.
That’s when Spencer said, ” something cool happened.”
“We spotted a Black man making his way up the line, stopping to interact with everyone. He handed something to many of them, but I couldn’t tell what it was from so far back.
“When he got to us, he held up a stack of $20 bills and asked if anyone needed cash.
“Many accepted, including the 69-year-old diabetic man in front of me with his service dog named Trouble.
“The man with the $20s only broke his stride long enough to hand out his cash. He didn’t wait to be thanked. He didn’t pose for photos.”
Spencer said he estimated the man handed out at least $500 before jumping into his pickup truck in the freezing rain and driving away.
“On behalf of everyone who got to witness the grocery store staff and the Foodarama Angel in action today,” Spencer wrote, “‘Thank you.’ [and] God bless Houston. We live in a city of beautiful people.”