I was the victim yesterday...

...of a random act of kindness.

So I was finishing breakfast at a non-descript coney in a non-descript stripmall and asked the waitress for my check.

"The people at the next table asked for it and paid for it."

"Why?"

"I don't know. They wrote 'pay it forward' on the bottom of the check."

Geez, do I look like a poor, lonely old man or something, I wondered, appreciating the sentiment but wishing someone in need would have been the recipient instead.

I have done the same thing many times in many different ways and perhaps the 'what goes around, comes around' logic applies, but I just never expected it to be me.

Nonetheless, I was uplifted by the better angels of human nature shining quietly amid the chaos, hate and mayhem with which our media tends to paint our human behavior.

Has this or anything similar ever happened to any of you?

Someone paid for my coffee at Starbucks last week. I figured it's a Lenten act of charity.

It's gotta be the shoes.

Someone once anonymously paid for everyone's food at a local Big Boy. No reason given.

If everyone were that generous, we'd have no need for money. :)

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Originally Posted by Lowell

...of a random act of kindness.

So I was finishing breakfast at a non-descript coney in a non-descript stripmall and asked the waitress for my check.

"The people at the next table asked for it and paid for it."

"Why?"

"I don't know. They wrote 'pay it forward' on the bottom of the check."

Geez, do I look like a poor, lonely old man or something, I wondered, appreciating the sentiment but wishing someone in need would have been the recipient instead.

I have done the same thing many times in many different ways and perhaps the 'what goes around, comes around' logic applies, but I just never expected it to be me.

Nonetheless, I was uplifted by the better angels of human nature shining quietly amid the chaos, hate and mayhem with which our media tends to paint our human behavior.

Has this or anything similar ever happened to any of you?

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That's just great. You can't even peacefully enjoy a breakfast in a restaurant anymore without some clown coming in and disrupting everything with their "Random Act Of Kindness"! What are the Mayor and the City Council doing about these "acts"? NOTHING! And WHERE are the cops when you NEED them????? Is NOTHING sacred anymore?

I once paid part of the grocery tab for a lady who was in front of me in line. It wasn't completely a selfless act. It was after work and I was in a hurry to get home. She was short her bill and it would've taken her a while to sort through what she wanted to put back.

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Originally Posted by Jimaz

Someone once anonymously paid for everyone's food at a local Big Boy. No reason given.

If everyone were that generous, we'd have no need for money. :)

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You'd have to have at least two people with money; the one who first pays it forward and the next one, assuming that those two will continue to pay.

Yeah, 'cuz surely then 'discount' pay-it-forwarders will figure out the cheap trick, wait until the Big Boy only has two senior citizens sitting in it before they step up with the house offer...

[[and thanks, Honky Tonk, I almost lost a mouthful of coffee over that comment!)

This is a thing in Canada and we don't only pick people who look particularly down on their luck. :) In fact it happens a lot in drive thrus where you can't even see the people behind you.

As far as I'm concerned, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, Lowell. A small thank you out there in the universe for all the things you do for others!

I was having a dinner around Christmas with my boyfriends at Wolfgang Puck's reincarnation in MGM a few months ago. The middle-age couple next to us paid for our meal, unbeknownst to us, right before they were about to leave. I think maybe they chose us because we are around the age of their children, so it could have been the parent-child thing. Our server told us that people do that frequently around Christmas, since apparently people are more in a feel-good and giving mood at that time.

The couple talked to us for a few minutes before they left, and turns out the couple's son and my boyfriend are both engineers at Ford, and new each other from work!

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Originally Posted by Blueidone

As far as I'm concerned, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, Lowell. A small thank you out there in the universe for all the things you do for others!

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I second this. If I were there I'd buy you breakfast too. You have given the Detroit-Windsor community a great gift by administering this site, plus all the other things you do to help our region. Even this thread here is an example of your positive spirit. While we all, myself included, tend to complain about the negative things we dislike, you took the time to acknowledge something positive and uplifting.

Thanks, and may you enjoy many more gifts of human kindness!

It reminds me of this story: Secret Santas spread cheer in metro Detroit

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For the fourth year, Mr. and Mrs. Claus have spread Christmas cheer around metro Detroit. The Secret Santas, who wish to remain anonymous, handed out a total of $12,000 to some unsuspecting people on Monday, December 19, 2011.

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I think they did it last year too so they've been doing this for five years now.