Pay it Forward

I've never seen the movie; but I know the concept. Well, friends, we were on the receiving end of a random act of kindness last night. Let's start at the very beginning. (a very good place to start)

Wednesday is a "busy day". Not that other days aren't busy, this is one of the busier ones. Shuttling to and from school, gymnastics for Grant and then in the evening Eliza has a Rock Climbing class. Not too bad seeing as how Jacqui's gymnastics class used to be at 1pm and has now been moved to Friday. But things were compounded a bit today by the mountains of unfolded laundry and hideous dirty dishes in the kitchen. It's called "House Hang-over" or "Weekend House". What with Grant's accident and Spencer leaving, I just haven't caught up yet.

So after I picked up Grant, I decided it was an eating out night. I drove to Winger's because their kid's menu is fabulous. Cut up food, fruit snacks and drink included with the entree. Oh, and popcorn before the meal! I herded the kids to our booth and they settled in, sorting through the crayon bucket and playing tic-tac-toe. There was a man & a woman across the aisle from us. I could tell that it was a son taking his elderly mother out to dinner. I sighed inwardly and hoped that the kids would behave and not ruin their nice evening.

Somewhere in the aftermath of ordering and then receiving our food, I noticed the man & elderly woman finish and then he helping her with a jacket. The waiter wheeled her walker over to their table and the son held it steady while she found her grips. And they left. We enjoyed our meal; Eliza especially, because I let her order off the adult menu and get an adult sized drink. Her eyes were too big for her stomach because she was left with half of her meal unfinished. And I had a huge portion of my BBQ Chicken salad as well because their portions are enormous. Our waiter brought us one big box and then said,

"Well, enjoy the rest of your meal and the bill has been taken care of."

"Oh ok. Um, excuse me, huh? I, uh, how, er who?" I kind of trailed off after the spout of stuttering.

"The couple that was over here paid for your meal." the waiter said.

"Oh my, well, thank you, uh, to them, and uh, thanks again!" I managed to blurt out.

I have never had that happen before! I felt kind of guilty, I think it would have been a $40-something meal. I just about wept right there in Winger's. There really are kind people out there! Thank you whoever you were!