ProetryPlace Blog 36, New Year’s Day, 2014
An Act of Random Kindness
The news frequently reports acts of random violence—drive-by shootings, children wounded asleep in their beds, all variations of senseless destruction. I now want to report an act of random kindness.
Last night, my wife and I met another couple about 7:30 PM at a neighborhood Carrollton restaurant for a quiet New Year’s Eve dinner. Like most of the restaurants in town, many of the tables were already occupied. A family of five or six sat around the table closest to ours—a mother and father, some teens and possibly others. I did not pay close enough attention to report the composition of their group accurately, although shortly after we arrived, the apparent mother of the group and I did exchange a few friendly words.
Our friends and we ordered drinks and hors d’oeuvres and eventually our dinners. We became engrossed in table talk about ourselves, our families, our neighbors and a few old reminiscences for auld lang syne. The young family next to us finished their meals and waved to us as they left.
Our leisurely dinner finally finished, we called for the check—Dutch treat, of course.
“Oh, the family that was next to you paid your check,” our smiling waitress reported.
“What? Who? Why? We don’t even know them!”
“Yes, they just said they wanted to pay for your dinners.”
Probably, I will never again see those people that perpetrated that act of kindness with no expectation or possibility for repayment. Quite possibly I would not recognize any of them if I saw them again somewhere in public. But for today and as long as the warm glow they created persists, our dogs will get an extra treat, I will be sure to tell my wife I love her and compliment her on her looks, and I will smile at strangers and feel a special bond of humanity.
And just maybe, when the opportunity strikes, I may be able to perform a random act of kindness for some other unsuspecting victims. Thank you, mystery family, thank you.
To one and all, “Happy New Year.”
Richard Allen Anderson, 1 January 2014
King and Queen of a new year who experienced a wonderful act of Paying Forward!
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