Kindness Ch. 03

As noted in the first two chapters, people surprise us many times with unexpected kindness. Although there is plenty of evidence on nightly news that all is not well in the world and that people will rob, cheat and murder you at the drop of a hat, there are also the unseen, unreported thousands of examples where the opposite happens daily. Today, we have three stories from three different readers that I want to share.

ReiDeBastos sent this one:

One evening when my first wife and I were in our early thirties, we took our three children (ages 5, 7 and 8 years old) out to a local restaurant for dinner. We usually did this a couple of times every month, to various restaurants.

I have always been very big on manners (something my mother had instilled in me from a young age), and had passed that tradition down to our kids. They were so unfailingly polite that my wife's family sometimes referred to them as "The Please-and-Thank-You Kids." They knew very well how to behave in a restaurant and waiters and waitresses were often surprised at our kids thanking them when they brought the meal, or filled a glass.

Whenever we were at a restaurant and another child behaved badly (yelling, or running between the tables), our three kids would watch that child, with their jaws dropped in disbelief.

That evening, the five of us visited and enjoyed our meal. When we were done, I asked the waiter for the bill, but he told me that our bill had already been paid. When I asked who had paid it, he said that it had been paid by the couple who had sat at the table next to ours. They had already left.

Uncomfortable with what felt like charity, I hurried out to the lobby of the restaurant in hopes of finding the couple and returning their money. I looked around trying to spot the couple, but frankly, I hadn't paid much attention to what they looked like.

Just then, an elderly couple approached me. They told me that they had already been outside the restaurant, but had seen me evidently trying to find them, and had come back in to speak with me.

The man first confirmed that they had been the ones who had paid our bill.

I thanked them, but when I reached for my wallet to repay them, he stopped me and said something like this: "Frankly, when I saw the hostess seat your family at the table next to ours, I almost asked that my wife and I be moved to a different table, where our meal would not be interrupted by three noisy children."

Then he continued, "But we decided to wait for the noise to start before asking to be moved, and we were absolutely amazed at how quiet and well-behaved your children were! It was so pleasant to watch and hear, and we felt so badly for having pre-judged your family, that we decided to pay for your meal."

I thanked them, but tried to get them to accept reimbursement, which they politely but firmly declined. My wife and were not poor at the time, and could have easily afforded the meal, but I'll never forget how proud of my children that couple's act of kindness made me.

In the couple of decades since then, whenever I am in a restaurant, I have tried to keep an eye out for a young family with well-behaved children seated nearby, so that I can pay their bill, thus paying forward that "elderly" couple's kindness so many years ago; but, sadly, I have yet to spot such a family. Maybe some day!

This next story comes from Bob, another reader. Sometimes our child does the kind act.

As a kid, my parents raised us pretty much the same way as described by Memorable Event: our clothes weren't the most stylish, but good; toys were not the most lavish, but nice. And we were proud of them! We learned the hard way when we were stubborn-headed about some things through the use of a good hand, belt, or switch (and it better be a good one!). I love my parents for what they done and have tried to do the same with my kids; so far, so good. My story:

We were in a local department store when one of my children found a wallet on the floor. Curious to see what would happen, I watched. He opened it up, looked at the driver's license and peeked around to see if he could spot the owner; he didn't. He asked me what to do and I told him let's take it to customer service. They indeed found the owner later on, but I was a proud dad knowing he did the right thing.

This next story comes from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous:

I was on leave and returning to Memphis from Iraq to see my wife and two children after nearly a year. I'm career Army and had served for almost 18 years when this event happened a few years ago.

My plane connections went through Atlanta, as almost all flights into and out of the Southern states seem to do. The Hartsfield-Jackson Airport USO always makes those of us in uniform feel very appreciated and welcomed; and this day was no exception. I had a couple of hours before my connecting flight to Memphis, so after visiting others in the USO room for a while, I headed down to a lobby restaurant.

While standing in line, a man waiting behind me thanked me for serving our country and insisted on paying for my lunch. That was very nice and I appreciated it. We talked for a while and I couldn't help but notice an extremely attractive young lady in the next line. She glanced at me several times and smiled.

I took the food tray and had a seat at an open table in front of the restaurant. In just a moment, the young lady walked to my table and asked if she could join me. I'm no fool so I insisted she have a seat. I have always been somewhat shy around beautiful women, so I became a bit nervous. Isn't it crazy that I can kill an enemy combatant without a second thought but a beautiful woman scares me? Thankfully, she carried the conversation and I soon relaxed.

Turned out she was also on the way to Memphis but she kept the entire conversation focused on me and my family. She wanted to know how it felt to be going home after a year and what I missed the most while I was away. She wanted all the details on my children and my wife. She wanted to know about war and how it affected me and my buddies. After nearly an hour, about the only thing I knew about her was that she was from South Carolina, was drop-dead gorgeous with a personality to go with the looks. I did notice when she laid her boarding pass on the table that she was in seat 2C in business class. I was in seat 30 B, center seat in economy.

We walked together through security and to the gate. She went directly to the gate customer service desk while I found a place to stand. All the seats were taken. She did find a seat near the gate door when a smart young man insisted she take his.

I was surprised when the gate agent called my name and even more surprised when he gave me a new boarding pass. I was upgraded to business class and assigned to seat 2C. I immediately looked over to the young lady but she was in conversation with the young man.

We boarded the plane and I waited impatiently for her to board so I could thank her for such a generous gift. She never boarded. At first, I thought I had just missed her; but, after we were in the air, I walked the length of the plane and couldn't find her. I was very confused and sorry to have never been able to express my appreciation.

My lovely wife and children and both sets of our parents met my plane and we had a marvelous and loud reunion at the airport. It felt great to be home, for at least the next thirty days.

That night, my wife and I were watching the 11:00 news and there was a report from St. Jude's Hospital about several special visitors who had come to see the young patients. Five of the Miss America contestants had visited there all afternoon. Imagine my shock when the young lady who gave me her seat turned out to be Miss South Carolina. She was interviewed and the reporter mentioned she had a problem getting there. She said she got bumped and had to go on a later flight, which made her an hour late to the hospital.

I told my wife the full story and we both cheered for her during the contest later that month. It was not to be, however, but she will always be Miss America in my mind.

I think you will agree with me that these are three excellent examples of unexpected kindness being shown to strangers. If you have a story that you could share, please send it to me through the feedback or contact link. I will include it in a future chapter. Also, please vote and comment on this chapter and the other two chapters if you would like to see more of these non-erotic but still "uplifting" postings. Please have a wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday season.

GO AUBURN! Make it eight National Champs in a row for the Southeastern Conference!