The Kindness of Strangers

It's not often that I have occasion to gawk at something really awesome that a perfect stranger does. Usually my jaw drops in disgust/annoyance/rage at people's rudeness/stupidity/asinine-ness. So it was an extra level of surprised delight that we discovered at dinner last night that the guy sitting at the table next to us in the restaurant randomly picked up our tab when he paid his own.

When I say "we," I mean Dr. H, Dr. P, Dr. P's friend Dr. A, Husband, Brother-in-Law, Future Sister-in-Law, Big O, and me. We had a big, delicious Cuban meal with lots of appetizers. The table next to us consisted of a party of three. They drank at least two bottles of wine. I actually worried at a few points that we were being too loud and annoying them. I guess not.

Upon learning that our check had been paid, we were amazed at how nice a perfect stranger could be. Unfortunately, they were long gone by then, and for the second Friday in a row, I didn't thank people who had taken care of me. Whoever you are (and at one point I semi-irrationally decided the man was Francis Ford Coppola), we send many thanks your way and feel humbled. Now it is our turn to do something good for someone.