Monday, January 17, 2011

Random acts of kindness.

Well we just got back from a wonderful weekend in Arkansas visiting a friend I haven't seen in years.  It was so nice to catch up, hang out, and just be myself.  I am so looking forward to the next visit. 

So this morning I decide to stop off and get breakfast with the kids before we hit the road.  I was actually looking for a Cracker Barrell but one didn't show up on my gps so we went to the Waffle House instead. 
I walk in with all three kids in tow and sit down at the last booth.  I notice an older lady sitting at the booth next to ours.  She looked at me and smiled and I returned the smile, then she went back to her crossword puzzle without saying a word to me. 

The kids and I sat and ate our meal, chit chatted with the waitresses and what not.  I did notice that the lady got up, paid, and left.  A little while later I asked the waitress for our check.  She walks over to the register, I figured she was getting our total, then walks back to our table and says our check was already paid for.  I was dumbfounded.  I looked at the waitress and asked What?  She said, "Yeah, one of our regular customers already took care of your check."  I'm still confused at this point.  Looking around trying to figure out who could have done it.  I then asked her who.  She shook her head.  I asked if it was the lady sitting next to us and she nodded.  I finally asked why.  The waitress told me it was because I had reminded her of when she was younger and would take her three kids to breakfast while her husband was at work.  My kids were so happy and well behaved that it touched her heart.  This blew my mind.  It made me cry.  I have never had anyone do something so kind and sweet.  She was the one who touched my heart.  Something as simple as someone else paying for your meal makes you realize there still are some nice people in this world. 

So I encourage everyone to do a random act of kindness.  Pay for someone's coffee, help them pump their gas, anything.  I thought about this our whole drive home and continue to sit and wonder if this nice lady knows how sweet that was and how much it truely meant to me. 

I am excited to return the favor, to do my random act.  I don't know when it will be and I don't know where, but I WILL do it. 

1 comment:

  1. this made me cry!! it's nice to know that people like that still exist!

    ReplyDelete