Ruth Reed Ruth Reed offered to pay for Keith Urban's snacks at a convenience store in New Jersey.
Ruth Reed stepped up to help the man in front of her at a convenience store. She saw he was low on cash and offered to pay for his snacks. She didn’t immediately realize the person she was speaking to was country star Keith Urban!
This happened in Medford, New Jersey on Friday, August 3. Urban was scheduled to play a concert in Camden that night.
Here’s what you need to know.
1. Ruth Reed Made Made a Resolution To Do More to Help People
My favorite story of the day is how my 3rd grade teacher thought @KeithUrban was down on his luck and couldn’t pay for his wawa snacks so she bought them for him. What an angel.
Ruth Reed is a substitute teacher in South Jersey. Her more recent Facebook posts are set to private, but a former student of hers shared Reed’s post about the experience meeting Keith Urban at Wawa. As it turns out, Reed’s decision to jump into action is a regular occurrence.
Reed explained that she had wanted to pay-it-forward more in her everyday life. She decided to go about this with small, meaningful actions that ultimately can leave a huge impact on the person helped. She wrote on Facebook, “For three years I have made a resolution to once a week treat someone at Wawa. Occasionally it happens more than once a week.”
2. Ruth Reed Did Not Immediately Recognize Keith Urban When She Spotted Him at the Cash Register at Wawa in Medford
Just caught up with Ruth Reed who saw a customer having an issue paying at Wawa in Medford, NJ and jumped in to pay his bill. Turns out it was @KeithUrban her pic with him after interview, more today on @CBSPhilly
Ruth Reed shared on Facebook “this man was short a few dollars, he asked a lady with him if she had money. I jumped in and said I would pay and explained why. He thanked me and asked my name. I asked him his and he told me it was Keith.”
Reed told him she thought he looked similar to country star Keith Urban. He insisted that he was in fact Keith Urban, but Reed did not initially believe him! The woman with him at Wawa was identified as Urban’s sister. Reed also asked his bodyguard to confirm Urban’s identity.
Reed laughed at herself on Facebook by referring to the situation as “Another Ruth Reed moment!” She says Urban then “graciously” allowed her to snap a photo with him.
3. Ruth Reed’s Action to Help Keith Urban Pay for his Snacks Has Inspired a Lot of Positive Feedback on Social Media
Ruth Reed has received a lot of love and support on social media since posting the photo with Keith Urban. Her former student who shared the story on Twitter, Olivia Prouse, called Reed an “angel.”
Sirius XM radio shared the photo and told Reed, “you rock.” Additional comments on that thread commended Reed. Christine Neidig Worrell wrote, “Having known her for many years this story will never get old and always be hilarious ? Mrs Reed is an angel on earth, always has been!” Rose La Bruna posted, “I love this story!!!! She’s an awesome person!!!”
Other tweets applauding Reed include this one from Erick Sodhi, who called Reed a “unsung hero.”
Another Twitter user wrote, “The BEST part of this story is Ruth Reed & her husband’s kindness. We need to spotlight THESE people, because…. #ThisIsAmerica”
4. Keith Urban Needed Cash Because He Was Struggling With His Credit Card
Woman Covers Man’s Tab At South Jersey Wawa, Discovers It’s Country Star Keith Urban t.co/mtTNhgm6Rj
Ruth Reed offered Keith Urban cash for his convenience store snacks at the Wawa in Medford, New Jersey. Many online posters have pondered about why Urban didn’t just use a credit or debit card.
Turns out, Keith Urban was trying to use a card in the first place. But he was struggling to get the card to work with the machine. After Reed paid for him, Urban reportedly put his own $5 cash into the store’s donation box.
Camden, NJ • 8.3.18 • #GraffitiUWorldTour
Keith Urban did not specifically mention Ruth Reed on his own Twitter page. But he did post a video following his Camden, New Jersey concert, saying he’d had a great time there.
5. Ruth Reed Has a Fearless Streak and Encourages Friends and Family on Facebook to Appreciate the Little Things in Life, Like Helping Others at Wawa
Ruth Reed is a grandmother who is not afraid of taking an adventure! She shared on Facebook in 2017 that she went skydiving. She went through with it, but had some trouble after the jump. She shared, “I went in for a short training session, meet the man who is jumping with me and get on the plane. I couldn’t get a deep breath, but figured it was nerves, not anxiety. it is our turn to jump, we do and do a somersault as we go out. And that was it. I couldn’t get a deep breath, I felt sick, thought I was going to barf while skydiving.” Luckily she was ok and did not suffer any lasting issues from the jump.
Ruth Reed also frequently encourages others to give back. A post from March of 2017 urges people to “Remember to tell those you love that you do indeed love them. And just because you can, if the person in back of you at WaWa is getting a coffee or a soda, treat them. You will be happy you did.”
It turns out that in addition to being thoughtful and giving to others, Ruth Reed also has the mental strength to battle through severe physical pain. She was recently named as the Patient of the Month at 3 Dimensional Physical Therapy in Medford, New Jersey.
Reed suffers from arthritis in her knees, which causes her intense pain. The organization praised Reed for her diligence and dedication to her health. In an online interview, Reed said “I’m not afraid to do the everyday things now that I was scared to death to do before!”