What happened at Trader Joe's?

Everyone knows the game where people sit in a circle and one person whispers something in the ear of the next person. The message is then passed on around the group. Nine times out of 10, the message ends up completely changed, portions deleted or information exaggerated. Such is what happened at Trader Joe's about a month ago.

This is what happened. A woman, who will remain anonymous, but I will call "Carol," was checking out of the Trader Joe's in Dr. Phillips. She was engaged in pleasant small talk with the cashier who had asked her how her day was going. Carol shared that her day was OK, but she was concerned with all that was happening in Israel. At this point, the person bagging Carol's groceries said that she was not able to continue bagging for Carol, walked away and started talking with a friend.

The cashier apologized to Carol, saying "I'm sorry, she had a bad day."

Carol was humiliated, but finished checking out and went home. She immediately called Idit Lotringer, director of the Israeli American Council - Orlando. Lotringer encouraged her to go back and speak with the manager.

Carol spoke with the manager who was by now aware of what happened and was upset. After the meeting, Carol called Lotringer again. At this point, Lotringer told Carol that she would handle the situation.

"Let's do something," Lotringer said to people in the community, and impressed that "it's important that we show Trader Joe's that we are not animals. We are for peace and love and we know others suffer as well," Lotringer told Heritage.

In the meantime, calls to the CEO of Trader Joe's went nowhere, except that he turned the situation over to Trader Joe's head of relations, who contacted Lotringer.

The head of relations expressed that she was glad the Jewish community had responded to this in a "nice way." It was "handled in a way that I admire - in a positive and productive manner," she wrote to Lotringer.

Lotringer reminded her about the time three years earlier when Trader Joe's started carrying Israeli cheese. Groups began encouraging people to boycott the stores. However, the Jewish-Israeli communities across the country stood up for Trader Joe's and all the Israeli cheese was sold out throughout the United States. "We were there for you," Lotringer said to the head of relations.

The company has not forgotten this response to the boycott.

Trader Joe's sent Carol a letter of apology along with a gift card that Carol has donated to the Jewish Israeli community. "Trader Joe's wants Jews to feel comfortable about coming here," the letter stated in part.

The bagger is no longer at the store. The head of relations told Lotringer that she couldn't share the information of where the bagger is now, only that she is no longer at that location.

Another side of this story is that Channel 6 reached out to Lotringer for an interview. She said no, however suggested a Hillel student for the interview. That story ended badly. The Channel 6 reporter twisted what the student said, drawing more negative light on Israel - exactly what Lotringer thought would happen.