A First for My Wife and Me

[Sam]

No, its not what you are thinking.

 

Yesterday, we drove to Hubs Nuts in Sedley, Virginia from Richmond to buy our peanuts for the winter and for my wife's peanut brittle.

 

On the way home, we stopped at the Virginia Diner in Wakefield for lunch. So far, so good.

 

When we asked the waitress for our check she told us that someone had picked it up along with a tip.

 

We had no idea who did this, but I was watching a guy at a table in the front of the restaurant look at us and I kept thinking I knew him, although he had his mask on for most of the time he was at the restaurant.

 

Floored by what the waitress told us, we did not know what to do. Then, the gentleman who was watching us came to our table and the guy was a business associate with a Third Party Administrator that I use for self-insured group health insurance programs and he admitted to picking up the tab.

 

We spoke for about five minutes; he refused any money; and he said all the times we went out to lunch and I refused to let him buy me lunch to avoid any conflicts of interest allegations that this is the best he could do.

 

It was a nice Christmas present.

[roadwarrior]

[GaryH]

That's great to hear. That people really appreciate it. My wife and I have done this numerous times while were out to dinner. It's usually a elderly couple, a young couple with kids or a military family. The only request we make of the waitress is to not disclose to them our identity.

A quick story of how it started. WE were out for dinner when a group of elderly folks were in the next booth discussing how the nursing home just raised there electric $10 per month. They wanted dessert but decided they shouldn't because of the electric raise. The wife and I both said at the same time we need to help. So we had the waitress give us there bill and to also serve them dessert. We left so we never got to see the look on there faces but I can only hope it made them feel as good as it makes us feel when we do it.

[nick76]

Two things come to mind as I read this.

 

1.  It is amazing to me that more businesses have lost the "service model" in favor of the "make the most money model".  This gentleman understood the importance of making contacts and establishing relationships.  It is nice to hear when people understand that there is more to business than the bottom line. 

 

2.  My wife and I are fortunate to be in a place where we do this as often as we can for others.  The one moment that sticks out for me was the time we were eating breakfast in a restaurant and young man from the next door Wal-mart came in to treat himself to a breakfast.  You could tell that he was counting every penny and we overheard him ask prices multiple times to make sure he was okay with the money he had.  He must have been around 16-18 years old, looked tired as could be and you could tell he was not a regular at restaurants.  After watching him order and reorder to stay within his small budget, I called the waitress over to the table and ordered him the largest meal I could with all the fixings and drinks.  The look of shock when that kid's order came to the table instead of the 2 eggs and toast he had ordered....it was priceless.  He quickly tried to explain he couldn't afford the meal and was almost in a panic until the waitress explained that it was paid for and he wouldn't owe anything.  He was in tears as he choked down enough food for a week.  Then she brought him a to-go cup for his drinks and several large cinnamon rolls in a bag.  I made my wife stay until he had left so we made sure he was full and to watch the smile.  He had no idea who paid, but it was worth it.  That kid will never forget that moment and I hope he ends up in a place someday where he has the opportunity to pass it on to another young man who needs it.  That was a great start to our morning.

[roadwarrior]

2 hours ago, GaryH said:

That's great to hear. That people really appreciate it. My wife and I have done this numerous times while were out to dinner. It's usually a elderly couple, a young couple with kids or a military family. The only request we make of the waitress is to not disclose to them our identity.

A quick story of how it started. WE were out for dinner when a group of elderly folks were in the next booth discussing how the nursing home just raised there electric $10 per month. They wanted dessert but decided they shouldn't because of the electric raise. The wife and I both said at the same time we need to help. So we had the waitress give us there bill and to also serve them dessert. We left so we never got to see the look on there faces but I can only hope it made them feel as good as it makes us feel when we do it.

[schplurg]

On 12/9/2020 at 4:06 AM, Sam said:

No, its not what you are thinking.

 

 

 

Far as I got.

[scaleface]

Ok . I'm going to pay for someones meal now . My wife and I have paid for peoples groceries  on different occasions  . I sold a boy a car for a hundred dollars , I was asking a thousand . His car was shot  and he was a delivery boy . He could not work without wheels .

[Koz]

Last week there was a Pay It Forward line at a Dairy Queen in Minnesota that lasted for about 900 cars. Makes we wonder about the person that broke the chain.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/us/pay-it-forward-dairy-queen-trnd/index.html