I was in a discount department store recently in Monroe with my daughter and granddaughters when I saw a Spanish lady crying. She was very upset.

She was crying very loud and shaking her hands. Her kids were standing there no knowing what to do. You could see on their faces they were scared. I told my daughter that one of her children must be lost. I still wasn’t sure what was going on. I went to to the lady to see if I could help her. None of the other customers would help her; all they did was stare at her.

I asked her young son what was wrong and he said “she lost her pocketbook.” I asked him what happened and he said “it was in the buggy, then it was gone.” The lady was still crying.

Still no one stopped to ask if they could help, not even a store employee.

I finally saw a store employee and I stopped him and told him what happened. Another employee came by and took the lady to the front. I looked around at the people staring. No one really cared about her situation. In my opinion, I think that no one helped her because she was Spanish.

There was a white lady standing nearby. She asked me what was wrong. I told her and she said “OK” and walkd off.

The lady could not speak any English. The pocketbook was found in the shoe department. Her wallet was gone and her money.

The manager was up front watching the tape to see if he could find out what happened. I spoke to another manager and told him that I didn’t want them to blow her off. I stood up at the service desk for about twenty minutes with the lady, who was still very upset. I had to leave but when I left they were still looking at the tape.

My point to this article is that this could happen to anyone anytime. People just don’t care about other people. What if she had lost her child? No one helped except me.

The security at the store needs a little improving. It should not have taken as long as it did for the lady to get help.

I hope the person or persons that stole her money read this. Whatever they got from her purse, they may have had a good time spending it, but one thing is for sure: God will make sure you lose more in the long run.

For the people who didn’t take time to care, you better stop and think: What if it was you? Would you want someone to help you?

CHRIS RODRIGUEZ

Monroe