真人版"聖誕老人"主動幫陌生人買單

A secret Santa brought an early Christmas gift to cash-strapped shoppers by spending $20,000 paying off their outstanding bills.

一個神祕的聖誕老人爲囊中羞澀的人們提早送出了聖誕禮品——他用2萬美元爲他們買了單。

Staff at Walmart were stunned when Greg Parady asked if he could contribute towards customer's Christmas layaway bills.

當格雷格·帕拉第詢問他是否能幫購物的人們付清聖誕購物的貨款時，沃爾瑪的工作人員感到十分吃驚。

After overhearing another shopper say she may not be able to afford her outstanding bill, Mr Parady wandered over to the layaway department to see what he could do to help.

在偶然聽到一個購物者說她可能沒辦法支付掉未付賬單時，帕拉第先生走進分期付款商品保留部，他想知道自己是否能幫上一點忙。

After asking the manager to tally up all the outstanding balances, Mr Parady was shocked to hear that $89,000 worth of gifts hadn't been paid for, and saddened by how many families were struggling to put presents under their tree.

帕拉第先生請經理結算了所有的未清商品餘額，當他得知這些聖誕禮物總共還欠款8.9萬美元時，帕拉第先生感到很震驚，卻也很傷心，因爲居然有這麼多家庭爲了聖誕樹下的禮物而如此艱難。

The 40-year-old made a significant dent in the debt however, after swiping a variety of personal credit cards through the machine.

刷了好大一筆錢之後，這位40多歲的大善人當然也爲了這次的大開銷擔上了債務。

'I came back here and just saw him swiping and swiping,' said his businesspartner, Cindy Nazzaro, who accompanied him on the visit.

“我到這兒就爲了看他不停地刷卡”，和帕拉第一同前來的合夥人辛迪·納扎羅說道。

He paid the bills of six shoppers who were in the store at the time, as well as paying off half of every bill over $200.

他爲當時在商場的6個購物者買了單，也支付了每筆超過200美元的賬單的一半款項。

Staff at the store recalled how the holiday hero swiped his card for customers who approached the till to cancel their orders, simply saying 'Merry Christmas' afterwards.

商場的工作人員回憶這位“節日英雄”爲那些在收銀臺準備取消賬單的購物者們刷卡買單的情形，每次刷完卡他就會說一句“聖誕快樂”。

'They didn't know what was happening at first,' said Wal-Mart operations manager Deb Davis.

“一開始他們還不知道發生了什麼事”，沃爾瑪的運營經理德布·戴維斯說道。

'This one girl in particular, she goes, "What do I owe?" My associate goes, 'That gentlemen right there just paid for you."'

“有個女孩子問道，‘我還欠多少？’”，我的同事說，“那位先生已經爲你買好單了。”

Overwhelmed, the woman, began to cry and had to sit down on a bench.

這個女生感動得泣不成聲，不得不坐在長凳上緩緩情緒。

His spending was so unexpected, Mr Parady's banks began to decline transactions in the fear his credit cards had been stolen.

由於帕拉第先生的開銷如此反常，他的銀行擔心他的信用卡被盜，開始拒絕處理這張卡的交易行爲。

The man used three different cards, took up two cashiers, and also made payments over the phone during the hours-long spree which employees described as the most generous they had ever seen.

在這個長達好幾個小時的狂歡購物中，帕拉第先生付款時用了3張信用卡，2臺收銀機，同時也通過電話進行支付，工作人員表示這是他們見到過的最慷慨的行爲了。

'I didn't intend for the attention but I hope it motivates other people,' he said.

“我並不想譁衆取寵，我只是想通過這種方式來鼓勵大家多做善事”，他如是說。

'I hope everyone will use it as a tool to give in their own way. It doesn't have to be money, it can be time, or just something kind.'

“我希望大家把它當做一個例子來舉一反三。做好事不一定用錢，也可以是時間，或者一些好的東西。”

The so-called 'layaway Santas' have been popping up across the US since 2011.

從2011年起，所謂的“幫你買單的聖誕老人”已經在美國各地不斷出現。

Walmart alone has noted 1,000 cases where a stranger has paid off another's bill this year, while KMart said over $1.5million had been spent by well-wishers in years past.

沃爾瑪稱今年已有1000件陌生人爲購物者們買單的事情發生，同時凱馬特稱過去幾年中“祝福者”支付的賬款超過了150萬美元。