In a video that restores your faith in humanity, complete strangers swoop in to help a single mother in need when she runs out of funds in her food stamp account to pay for her groceries.
A social experiment for the television show What Would You Do? set up hidden cameras at a market in a small town in New Jersey to see how witnesses would react to a mother on welfare.
Although the scenario is played out by actors, it is a struggle that many real Americans have to face every day. Reportedly, one in eight Americans need assistance, such as food stamps, provided by the government.
Within minutes of the mother being denied her groceries, other people came to her aid with spare change to foot the bill, or at least a portion of it, which she could not pay for.
"How could you not help someone like that; it's the least I could do," said one Good Samaritan who kept just enough cash to pay for his own groceries, then gave the rest to the single mother.
Another man in line commented that he wished he could help, but he was also paying for his own groceries with food stamps. He said he knew exactly what it was like to be in that situation.
In the second half of the social experiment, another actor was added to the scenario to complain about the woman holding up the line. He also talked negatively about the help others were giving her.
People still consistently helped the single mother short on food stamps and even gave the irate shopper a piece of their mind before it was revealed that they were being filmed for the TV show.
One stranger even quickly offered to help carry the bags for the mother so that she would not have to hear the offensive comments being made by the other man in line.
Consistently, the people who helped said they just wanted to pay it forward, it was the least they could do to help, or they just wanted to share their own blessings.
