TIFU by helping pay for a stranger’s groceries

TIFU. I was in line at a grocery store and the older lady in front of me was having trouble paying. I overheard the cashier tell her only $50 went through on her card and she owed the rest of her total. After she scrambled trying a couple of different cards, I discreetly asked the cashier how much was left to pay. She said $1.37 and I told her I would pay it. I wound up trying 2 different cards which don’t work, so I tell the cashier I think it might be her machine. She literally doesn’t react, so I take out the credit card that my partner gave me to help pay for the things I was picking up. That went through no problem.

The cashier then hands the lasy the receipt, who is confued. The cashier explains that I helped pau the rest of her total and this lady starts almost falling over. She thankfully had a walker, because I was about ready to catch her. She then gives me a hug and I’m just thinking wow…kind of an over reaction. Then she asks me if I know how much I just paid. And I’m like yeah, a couple dollars…? Like it’s really not a big deal.

Y’all…she tells me that I just paid almost $150. My brain shut down. I am currently unemployed and have been since early December. I immediately told her that I didn’t realize it was that much. But my anxiety wouldn’t let me take it back. I looked back at the cashier WHO AGAIN HAD NO REACTION. This woman told me the amount was ONE THIRTY SEVEN. No mention of the word hundred. No stopping me when I ran my first two cards and they didn’t go through.

After the lady left and my items were being rung up, I again expressed that I had no idea it was that amount. But I couldn’t just “take it back”. Honestly not sure if the cashier had a developmental delay because she was completely stone faced d this whole interaction. When I left the store I had to call up my partner and let him know what I did. He is thankfully ok with it and I will be paying him back once I am working again. I‘m just taking the L on this one and considering it my people pleaser fine. But holy shit. My heart is still racing and I don’t think I’ll be jumping in to help someone else pay anytime in the future.

TL;DR: I accidentally paid $137 dollars towards an old lady’s groceries instead of $1.37 using my partner’s credit card. I was too embarrassed to take it back afterwards even though I can’t actually afford to pay that amount.