Opinion

The kindness of a stranger


Published: July 6, 2009

To the editor:

Something happened recently to me and two friends that I thought your readers should know about.

We went to dinner at Not Your Average Joe's in Newburyport. It was a busy night and we were seated at a table by the window. Across from us every booth was filled.

We ordered our meals, using a coupon from the restaurant's Web site offering 20 percent off some new items on their menu. Our food arrived and we chatted about everyday stuff — high phone bills, living on a fixed income, ways to save money in these difficult times.

Our bill came to $57, but imagine our surprise when the waitress informed us that it had already been paid by someone else. She couldn't tell us who, but the manager came over and verified what we were told. We looked around but not a soul we knew was there. The manager suggested we stay for a few minutes and possibly the person would leave and then she would be able to tell us. Within a few minutes, a man with a young daughter left the restaurant. They had been sitting in one of the booths near us. It turned out he's the one who'd picked up our tab. But why? The waitress told us that he said he just wanted to do something nice for someone.

We were really struck by this random act of kindness. In these difficult economic times, it was a heartening experience. His reason could have been related to our conversation about stretching every penny, but we are more apt to believe he truly wanted to do this from the goodness of his heart.

Whoever you are, while we hope you read this note of thanks and appreciation, we somehow think you're the type of person who doesn't need or want thanks.

And we bet you sleep well through the night!

Anne Jones

Salisbury