‘Thanks, dinner angel’: Random act of West Seattle kindness

Just received this from Meighan:

I wanted to share this story with you, as it made a profound impact on my family and is such a cool representation of the community we live in here in West Seattle.

Tonight we were at dinner at Elliott Bay Brewing Company. It was a celebratory dinner of sorts, as my husband was back from a long weekend away with his family on the east coast. We were all really excited to see him, and I was also thrilled for dinner out after juggling a day of work and school cancellations without him.

We had a great dinner sharing stories of the weekend snow, sledding, and friends, a dinner that was made even sweeter by the news we received when we asked for our check. A woman who was sitting at the table next to us, who wished to remain anonymous, had paid for our dinner. We were floored. I mean what an amazing surprise.

My eight-year-old son Brendan then exclaimed, “Wow, there are some really nice people in this world.”

I am so thankful to that individual, not just for our dinner, but for showing my kids what it means to be generous and to spread happiness in such a cool, meaningful, and unexpected way.

We will certainly be spreading the love as a result and I hope this story inspires others to do the same. Unexpected, random acts of kindness can have a profound impact and are infectious.

Thank you, dinner angel!

Reminded us of this story from earlier this month.

RichWSeattle January 17, 2012 (9:31 pm)

Brendan said it better than I could. Thanks for sharing!

MB January 17, 2012 (9:35 pm)

Thats awesome!!

k January 17, 2012 (9:41 pm)

Wonderful!!

Dano January 17, 2012 (9:52 pm)

… What a wonderful thing to bring smiles to a GREAT family… And welcome home to Dad, and a big pat on the back to Brendan for telling it like it is!

Karlynn January 17, 2012 (10:04 pm)

I love this!! Thanks for sharing! The best part of all, in my opinion, is like you said, the impact that such an act of kindness can have on our children.

JO January 17, 2012 (10:05 pm)

Kindness changes EVERYTHING! Just Lovely!

Jtk January 17, 2012 (10:11 pm)

Things like this restores my faith in people somewhat! Lovely story. Pay it forward. :)

Alkigirl January 17, 2012 (10:17 pm)

Thank you so much for these random acts of generosity. And thanks to WSB for reporting and also for the great weather coverage.

steve January 17, 2012 (11:01 pm)

cool story bro. would’ve been even better if the lady donated the money to like some poor people instead of people who are doing fine. :/

Parent January 17, 2012 (11:07 pm)

Very cool!

Dani January 17, 2012 (11:17 pm)

Yep, inspired! I am on it! Thank you for sharing

Shann January 17, 2012 (11:27 pm)

I love this dinner story! I observed something similar on Sunday (1/15). A young woman from another country was buying diapers at Target in Westwood Village. I’m not sure how it happened but the woman in front of her asked if she could buy the diapers for her. She didn’t understand what was happening and kept trying to pay. Once the woman who paid had left the store and she understood what had just happened, a huge smile came accross her face and she was so happy! She kept saying “She paid for my diapers!? Oh wow!” It made me so happy to see that such a small gesture had such a big impact on another person.

DP January 17, 2012 (11:40 pm)

Thanks for sharing this! I love hearing positive stories that people have experienced. It reminds me to continue to have faith in people and to share that same kindness with others.

A January 18, 2012 (4:31 am)

I paid for someone’s meal in a drive thru recently, because she was clearly counting out pennies and trying to figure what she could afford, asking how much is this or that with tax.

For my kindness, she chased me out of the parking lot and tried to follow me home. Something about the look on her face and the way she was driving told me she was angry and I was about to get into a problem for being nice. I drive to a neighborhood near mine and began zigzagging up and down side streets and alleys to lose her, which I finally did, and then headed home and parked at the top of the driveway so she couldn’t see me if she drove by.

My point in telling this is to say THANK YOU also to the dinner recipients for being gracious. Sometimes we all just want to do something nice for another, and saying thank you (and meaning it!) is a lost art.

Cls January 18, 2012 (4:49 am)

Love it!

csw January 18, 2012 (8:55 am)

Beautiful!!!

Marcia January 18, 2012 (10:33 am)

Maybe, this so-called ungrateful woman was insulted, thinking that you might have been impatient with her holding up the line, although her actions clearly show to me at least, that all her crayons weren’t in the box, possibly!

flpjack January 18, 2012 (11:45 am)

That is truly awesome and a great example of how we can all live. When I started giving money away it really changed how I think, act and live with money.
One thing I do that is fun to do and simple is to give a dollar a day. Stick a dollar into the the Ramen sacks, or diaper bags in the grocery store, stick one under a persons car door handle. Bless the dollar that it may be used for good in the world.
Just someone finding a random dollar here or there and the thought of how much joy that maybe brought to them feeling Lucky is worth it.

A January 18, 2012 (5:25 pm)

Marcia, I didn’t so much think of her as ungrateful; in fact, my guess was that she was embarassed and didn’t want any so-called “charity.” I was simply being nice — not assuming she couldn’t afford it, but that she maybe had forgotten her wallet or just having a bad day.

Regardless, it was frightening to be chased. She stuck with me through 6 or 7 very random turns, even when I circled a particular block. I was afraid enough that if I hadn’t lost her when I did, I was going to drive to the fire station.

At any rate, I’m still going to randomly buy a stranger’s order on occasion. Because its USUALLY fun to see their delight. :-)