A Salmon Arm senior hopes to counter the bad news in the headlines with a personal experience that took her by surprise. 

On Friday afternoon, Oct. 11, 91-year-old Fran (who asked her full name not be used) contacted the Observer to share that experience.

Fran explained she'd been at a checkout in No Frills when the man standing in line behind her, a stranger, said he wanted to pay for her groceries. 

"I didn鈥檛 know it meant me鈥�," said Fran. "Have you ever heard of that, in the world that we鈥檙e living in today?"

The only prior contact Fran had with the man was when she couldn't find a store scale and he told here where it was. 

Fran said her bill was a small amount, around $30, but she was overjoyed by the gesture and its timing. 

"I had a chain around my neck 鈥� my husband gave it to me 鈥� and it broke a couple of weeks ago," said Fran, noting her husband is deceased. "I went to get an estimate today and the prices have gone up so crazy鈥�"

With the man covering her grocery bill, Fran said she was able to go back to have the chain looked after. 

"I think I was more excited about the chain," said Fran with a laugh. "I'm cheap you know; everything went up since I got the first chain and I thought no, I'm not paying that 鈥� and it was enough to cover it."

Fran said she and her husband moved to Salmon Arm around 43 years ago.

"We came here on holidays and when we were driving back home, my husband says 'I think I鈥檇 like to retire here'," explained Fran. "A year later we did and love it."

Still surprised by her grocery store experience, Fran said she felt it important to share it with the public.

"All we can do today is talk about bad things that are happening but there are plenty of good things. Why don鈥檛 we share it?" said Fran. "Compliment somebody. A smile on your face, that doesn鈥檛 cost us everything."