Pay it Forward

I have always wanted to see a "pay if forward" act in action, and on Saturday I finally had the opportunity.

Saturday night my dad, sister and I went out to dinner at Tepanyaki. I was excited because, let's be honest, it's the most entertaining place to have dinner at. While waiting to have our food brought to us I couldn't but help watch the people sitting at the table across from us. A couple, and a father with his two children and possibly the grandpa were quietly minding themselves seeing as they were two separate parties. I noticed that the husband and wife had ordered one of the more expensive meals, that includes almost everything. As they were finishing eating I heard the grandpa say to the couple, "So first one to catch the shrimp in their mouth pays?" Of course this was a joke, and I quietly laughed to myself. I noticed that the wife was boxing up the rest of their food and the husband had gone somewhere. The husband came back and they said goodbye to the other party at their table. A couple minutes later the waiter came over and said something to the dad along the lines of, "That couple paid for your dinner." The dad with a shocked look on his face said, "What! Let me see the receipt." He looked at the receipt and saw that what the waiter said was true. He handed back the receipt and almost didn't know what to do with himself.
I loved watching this "pay it forward" act unfold because the two parties never really talked except for that one instance. This couple paid for their expensive meal along with four others meals. Thank you random couple for putting hope back into my life.