A man observed a woman in the grocery store with a three-year-old girl in her basket.

As they passed the biscuit section, the child asked for cookies, and her mother told her “no.” The little girl immediately began to whine and fuss and the mother said quietly, “Now Ellen, we just have half of the aisles left to go through; don't be upset. It won't be long.” He passed the mother again in the candy aisle. Of course, the little girl began to shout for candy. When she was told she couldn't have any, she began to cry. The mother said, “There, there, Ellen, don't cry. Only two more aisles to go, and then we'll be checking out.” The man happened to be behind the pair in the checkout line, where the little girl began to clamour for gum and burst into a terrible tantrum upon discovering her mother would not buy any gum. “Ellen, we'll be through this checkout stand in five minutes, and then you can go home and have a nice nap,” the mother said.

The man followed them out to the parking lot and stopped the woman to compliment her. “I couldn't help noticing how patient you were with little Ellen,” he said. The mother replied, “My little girl's name is Tammy. I'm Ellen.”