'That's Canada for you': Shoppers leave cash, IOUs at unlocked grocery store

Presented with an unlocked and unstaffed supermarket, a group of Ontario shoppers chose to leave cash and IOUs instead of loot the grocery store last month.

Some of the downtown Kingston shoppers walked in, realized it wasn’t meant to be open during the Family Day holiday on Feb. 18 and promptly exited. One elderly woman who left empty handed even wrote a note for the manager: she just needed flour and eggs to make a cake.

“My first thought was ‘Oh no,’” said Food Basics District Manager Mark Woudwyk. Police arrived after a call about customers inside without employees, but Woudwyk never reported any stolen goods. “I realized to my delight that nobody took anything out of the store,” said Woudwyk.

The incident left Kingston police impressed, said Const. Ash Gutheinz. “It’s rare anywhere. We’re pretty impressed with our citizens that they would be so honourable, honest, so as to leave a bunch of money for the groceries that they were taking,” he said.

Customers on Thursday took the incident as a representative of the country’s spirit. “That’s Canada for you,” said shopper Bernard White. “Wouldn’t happen anywhere else, would it?”

“You always think of the worst, then sometimes people surprise you and it’s the best of humanity,” said Janice McGaw, another shopper.

The Food Basics said it will provide a gift card to the elderly woman in need of flour of and eggs for a cake. ctvnews