The combination of one woman’s simple act of kindness, another woman’s recognition of the good deed and a second Reddit user’s attempt to share the situation with his fellow Calgarians has prompted a retail outlet at the Calgary International Airport to adjust its pricing.

On November 26, Carlee Field was awaiting a flight in the airport’s C-terminal.

“They called my gate so I thought I would use the washroom before I go,” Field told CTV Calgary. “I kind of looked down, I saw this box of tampons, and thought someone must have lost this.”

“There was a note next to it and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, this lady is awesome!’.”

The anonymous handwritten note stated ‘None of the tampon vending machines work in this area so I was forced to buy this $15 box from Relay. Not acceptable! Please take one if you need one.’

Field, a Calgarian who was flying to Vancouver, says she had no need for the product at the time but was so touched by the woman’s gesture that she photographed the box and note.

“The fact that she paid $15 for it and then didn’t keep the box,” said Field. “It was the fact that she paid that much and then was like ‘No, someone else is going to need one, I’m leaving it here.”

Field, a self-described Reddit lurker, sent the photo to her husband who encouraged her to follow her instincts and post the photograph to the ‘Humans Being Bros’ subreddit, a forum that recognizes kind acts. By Monday morning, Field's 'Lady bro in the bathroom of the Calgary Airport! I appreciate you!  post had received a plethora of supportive comments and had been upvoted more than 9,000 times.

“I think it’s so cool that it’s getting so much attention because it’s so nice to bring attention to kind things that people do versus all of the sad, crazy stuff.”

The popularity of the post landed it on Reddit’s main page.

A Calgary-based Redditor who goes by the name BANGUNS4aSafeCalgary spotted Field’s post and cross-posted it to the Calgary Reddit page where it caught the attention of someone with the Calgary Airport Authority. A representative from the Calgary Airport Authority reached out to the Reddit user.

“I just thought, it’d be great, fine, they’d restock (the machine),” said BANGUNS4aSafeCalgary who requested that his real name be withheld.

On Friday, the Calgary Airport Authority addressed the situation on Reddit.

“Update: our maintenance team has checked and filled all vending machines in the washrooms, and our retailer Relay has adjusted the price of tampons to $6.25, effective immediately.”

Calgary Airport Authority spokesperson Dean Paddock confirmed the change in a statement to CTV Calgary.

 

 

 

"We strive to provide our guests with the best experience when they visit YYC. When we hear of ways we can collectively do better, we do. Once we became aware of a recent visitor’s feedback, we shared it with our partners and we were pleased to see our airport community come up with a solution. We can also advise that our maintenance teams have checked all machines and confirmed each is in service."

The two Redditors who helped bring exposure to the Good Samaritan's gesture were delighted to hear of the progress.

“They rectified it and made it way better than what the original situation was,” said BANGUNS4aSafe Calgary before he added with a laugh. “I mean it doesn’t directly impact me or affect me.”

When asked if she had a message for the woman who purchased the tampons and left the note, Field was quick to offer praise.

“From woman to woman, you’re fantastic,” said Field. “I hope she see this and is like ‘I changed the prices at an airport. I’m awesome!’.”

With files from CTV’s Alesia Fieldberg