Sometimes people surprise you. And sometimes, that surprise is just incredible.
A couple of weeks ago, I brought my wife home from her hospital treatment at a hospital in a neighbouring city. I was late for lunch, but in the morning at the hospital, we hadn’t eaten.
We pulled into the local A&W Restaurant’s drive-thru line and ordered lunch to take home. Just a couple of Beyond Meat Burgers and Fries. We pulled straight around to the payment window, and the team member started handing us our food. I reminded them that we hadn’t yet paid, and they told me that the “young guy in the car in front paid for your order.”
No fanfare. No message. In fact, I’d only peripherally noticed a car at the window as we pulled up. It wasn’t a car a recognized and being new in town, don’t know many people.
This was indeed a selfless act of kindness and generosity. The first time this has happened to me in my adult life, an anonymous person gives selflessly to a stranger.
I’m sure that they didn’t know that my wife had a rough morning of chemotherapy. Or how much that small gesture meant at that time when we were both tired and hungry. But it won’t be forgotten quickly, and I’m looking for an opportunity to pay it forward.
To that stranger who showed such kindness and grace. Thank you.