While picking up some groceries for jail inmates at a local Alabama supermarket, Cpl. Sebastian Goldman noticed something amiss about a teen boy’s right shoe. Initially, he dismissed it as a fashion statement, but he realized what it really was when he got a closer look.

The 18-year-veteran of the Hueytown police stopped by his local Food Giant, when he was approached by a 19-year-old store employee, wanting to help the cop take his groceries out to his patrol car. Goldman obliged his request, and as the two were walking through the parking lot, the cop couldn’t help but notice the boy’s unusual “fashion statement” around the toe of his right shoe. When Goldman asked the young man about it, he got a response he definitely wasn’t expecting, then he took immediate action.

Teen’s Shoes (left), Cpl. Sebastian Goldman (right)

The 18-year-veteran of the Hueytown police stopped by his local Food Giant, when he was approached by a 19-year-old store employee, wanting to help the cop take his groceries out to his patrol car. Goldman obliged his request, and as the two were walking through the parking lot, the cop couldn’t help but notice the boy’s unusual “fashion statement” around the toe of his right shoe. When Goldman asked the young man about it, he got a response he definitely wasn’t expecting, then he took immediate action.

“I looked at him and said, ‘What’s up with duct tape?’” Goldman told Al.com. “‘Is that something all the kids are doing? A fashion statement?’”

With a bit of pause, the boy responded with an explanation he was embarrassed to say, but he chose to be honest about it. He told the officer that this was the only pair of sneakers he had that he could use on the job, but sadly, they had ripped apart while hard at work. To make do with it until payday, he used duct tape to hold them together, so he didn’t get sent home and miss out on hourly wages that he desperately needed.

The teen’s admission broke Goldman’s heart, not knowing how long it was until the boy’s payday or whether he had to rely on these pieced together shoes to walk home. The two parted ways with a smile, and the cop headed straight to the first shoe store he found. He picked out a new pair of sneakers he thought the boy would like and headed back to the Food Giant to present the gift to him.

“Man, here you go. I didn’t know (if) payday was Friday or two weeks from now,” Goldman recalled saying, before handing the teen the new shoes. “He said, ‘What do I owe you?’ and I told him to just pay it forward.” The hard-working boy put his new shoes on and couldn’t thank the cop enough for the incredibly thoughtful thing he did, using his own money to help a stranger, Fox5 Atlanta reported.

“I just want to thank him, I shook his hand and everything, but I just want to thank him for what he did,” the teen said.

Goldman didn’t want any praise or recognition for the good deed, but a fellow shopper saw what happened and snapped a photo, before posting what they witnessed on Facebook. The officer recognized that this boy was working hard, doing everything he had to do to get ahead in life and not expecting anything in return. He was rewarded for his efforts by a kind cop, who has probably seen more than his fair share of entitled teens.