My husband and I regularly travel through Vidalia to our home on Lake St. John, so we were delighted when the new Wal-Mart opened in Vidalia. The store is clean, and the employees are very friendly and helpful. We also buy our gasoline there at Murphy U.S.A. because the price is competitive, we like the clerks, and it’s quick and easy.

A few months ago, my husband stopped for gas and accidentally gave the clerk, Kathy, a $50 and a $20 instead of two $20s. We had gotten to know Kathy because she is always cheerful, even when she has the early shift. When he discovered his mistake, he called Kathy, and she already had his change in an envelope in the cash register labeled with his name. How heart warming this was.

Several weeks ago, we stopped at the Jonesville Texaco for some snacks. My shoelace was untied, so I hung my purse on the outside rear-view mirror of our vehicle, tied my shoelace, reached into the back seat for my books, and forgot my purse. We discovered it was missing when we got to Alexandria. This was devastating because a woman’s purse holds her life. When we arrived home, our answering machine was blinking, and we had a message from Jeff Curry of Jonesville that he had found my purse lying along the side of Louisiana 28. He works in the meat market at the Vidalia Wal-Mart and would bring the purse to me the next morning. What a relief this was.

I have always had great faith in the goodness and honesty of mankind, and these two good deeds confirm that belief.

I would like to publicly applaud these two wonderful people — two modern-day Good Samaritans.

Barbara Rhodes

Lake St. John