While shopping in a supermarket, a young man spotted a little old lady who seemed to be following him around. Whenever he stopped, she stopped, and she kept staring at him intently.

Eventually, she caught up to him at the checkout and turned to him, saying, “I hope I haven’t made you feel uncomfortable; it’s just that you remind me so much of my late son.”

He kindly replied, “That’s okay.”

“I know it’s silly,” she continued, “but if you’d call out, ‘Goodbye, Mom,’ as I leave the store, it would make me feel so happy.”

She then proceeded through the checkout, and as she was heading out of the store, the young man called out, “Goodbye, Mom!”

The little old lady waved and smiled back at him.

Feeling pleased that he had brightened someone’s day, the young man turned to pay for his groceries.

“That will be $121.85,” said the clerk.

“How can that be? I only bought five items,” he responded in surprise.

The clerk explained, “Yes, but your mother said you’d be paying for her things too.”