As most of us know, the phenomenon of paying things forward when it comes to society has been implemented for quite some time now.
Growing up, it was one of the first forms of gratitude that I had seen from my parents, whether it be in the Coffee Bean drive-thru, or just paying for someone’s food.
As of 2024, one of the most recent trends on the multimedia platform TikTok is about helping out mothers by leaving gift cards or money inside diaper packs, under baby wipes, or ultimately just leaving extra cash for solely mothers to find to put less strain on their financial responsibilities.
A big part of why this “She Deserved the Purse” trend started was with a video on September 4 of creator DeNaesha Gonzalez who had taken an abandoned purse in the baby aisle which, instead of seeing it as discarded inventory, she saw it as a symbol of parents’ sacrifice.
This garnered a whole new audience of mothers and other parents sharing their experiences of how they have made sacrifices for their children. In doing so led to a global participation of hoping to help many other parents in need to lessen stress about money or get themselves something nice.
“There were just times where I didn’t have enough, or there were times where I had to put down certain things so that my son could have them,” Gonzalez said to NBC News.
But as good as something like this might be, it turns out that society can never have a good thing for even a little bit. What was meant to be something of good heart and generosity, turned selfish and greedy as people were now filming ripped open packs of baby items.
And it wasn’t far off to assume that there were in fact people cruel enough to do this as Valeria Diaz, a creator on TikTok had witnessed firsthand a group of teenagers rummaging through the products to find their stolen rewards.
It wasn’t even the fact that they were trying to find something that was so obviously not meant for them, but it was the fact that they were damaging and tampering with items that were meant for babies.
This can be so dangerous for first-time mothers especially when it comes to their child’s safety and health if they or other parents end up purchasing an item that was messed with.
I think this is one of the reasons why it’s so important to be kind in quiet, not saying that Gonzalez didn’t have good intentions with sharing something so beautiful, but how it’s more beneficial to do something helpful without it getting into the hands of people who will abuse others’ generosity.
It’s sad seeing the lengths a person would go to for a measly $50 when there are so many people in the world who can benefit from it, though I guess that’s what society has come to.
A lot of the problems that have arisen from this isn’t the money situation, it’s destroying the products that someone might be in need of. Just imagine how much worse this would be during 2020 when infant products were constantly running out and more than half of the items still vacant were destroyed.
Where does that leave the parents and children that really need it? While yes, in today’s world, prices are going up and everyone from the middle socioeconomic class to the lower socioeconomic class is struggling but keeping your morality is what matters the most.
Not losing touch with your humanity is key to surviving in this world, giving into greed and selfishness sets the world back 100 percent more than what it is today.