The random act of kindness has inspired a 'pay it forward' movement.

A Letterkenny supermarket worker has issued a heartfelt thank you to an ‘angel’ customer who lifted her spirits after a stressful incident.

Aoife Hunter was shopping in a local store this week when she was horrified by another customer’s rude behaviour to a staff member at the checkout. 

After witnessing the store assistant’s distress, Aoife decided to buy her a bunch of flowers and thank her and all her colleagues for their hard work at this difficult time.

The kind gesture had a much greater impact than Aoife could ever have imagined. The gift she gave to staff member Aine Little demonstrated an appreciation of all retail staff on the frontline and of their dedication to serving for customers’ needs.

Aine took to Facebook to thank Aoife for her “kindness and unconditional empathy”.

After connecting with her on Facebook, Aoife decided to offer another gift – a voucher for her personal training business.

“This my friends is beyond kindness and human decency, for a complete stranger to do this for me is beyond comprehension. Just know all that are working on the front line, people are seeing us all, people are feeling our dedication to continue to work. We are seen, and people are so grateful,” Aine said.

“Myself and my colleagues are working really hard, also going to work in fear of what we might bring to our homes. We do it without question.”

She added that she is going to ‘pay forward’ the kindness she received to keep the goodwill going. 

Aoife said she was blown away by the recognition for her gifts and said the incident in the store should be a reminder that all retail workers deserve respect.

“I just wanted some people to think twice. Retail workers have feelings with families and friends. They are so busy now more than ever making us their priority, we need to respect them, and respect social distancing,” Aoife said.

“I’m blown away with countless lovely messages after the lady posted it on social media. But I don’t deserve the kindness. It should be directed at the lovely lady and all the other incredible people at the frontline.”