It’s a tough world we live in. You can’t turn on the TV or listen to the radio or surf the internet without hearing something bad that has befallen someone. Pettiness, greed, and just plain “mean” are no longer the exceptions–they are the rule. It’s becoming more and more difficult to teach the boys about kindness and generosity. They don’t live in a bubble–they are exposed to the world and the people in it everyday. Today, however, Zachary was shown firsthand how nice even the simplest gesture can be.

Today is the ABC’s of Kindergarten at Zachary’s school, FLEC, ((Forest Lake Education Center))  which means he is home with me today. It’s always ((okay, almost always 😉 ))  a pleasure hanging out with The Goose and we spent a nice morning in the office. I was getting some work done and Zachary was playing games on Chris’ computer. For lunch we went to our favorite hole-in-the-wall diner, Robinson’s.

We were enjoying a very nice lunch–Zachary is a good dining companion. 🙂 He’s polite, funny, smart, and sweet. We talked. He colored in his coloring book. I took the opportunity to do some quick reading. Just as we were finishing up, the owner ((a very nice little Asian lady))  came over and picked up our bill. In her limited English she informed me that the woman who had been sitting in the booth behind us had picked up our tab.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.“
-Aesop

I don’t know why this nice woman paid our bill. Maybe it had something to do with how sweet and polite Zachary was to our server and the lady who busses the table. Maybe it had something to with the great conversation we were having. Maybe it had nothing at all to do with us. Unfortunately I will probably never know exactly why she decided to turn our simple lunch into a wonderful, random act of kindness. While I had glanced at her once and smiled at her when she met my eye, I can’t say that I remember anything about her except she was wearing scrubs. Even if I see her in Robinson’s again ((it appears we are both regulars there))  I don’t know that I will recognize her.

I hope that the small and unnecessary kindness she paid to me and Zachary is returned to her in a nice and unexpected way, and I hope that our server and the owner will remember to thank her for me, the next time they see her.