StatCounter

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Pay it forward

We went out to Friendlies restaurant recently with coupons (thanks Tiff). We had a nice booklet but I noticed that they were going to expire soon and that we had three for children meals. As we entered I scanned the crowd for someone to offer them to. Well, we were seated next to a grandmother, mother and three little girls. There were three coupons and I knew she could only use one that day, but since they were all different, I gave them all to her. She said she was sure that she could find one to use.

Well, about ten minutes later, another couple offered her some coupons and she said that she had just gotten these from us. There was another couple with kids and she offered them and they had their own coupons too and they had extra that they were going to pass on as they left. As my son said (quoting the movie), "pay it forward"--keep passing it down. We all shared a smile and a feeling of camaraderie.

Well, the mother of the three girls said that she would also pass on the extra coupons which she didn't use. We were wondering what the management would think of all this coupon passing. Well, a little later, a waitress approached our table and asked if we needed any coupons--the other couple had given them hers to pass along. She went table by table until she found people who wanted to use them. We were impressed that she would do that--and it wasn't just to get a bigger tip because she wasn't even our waitress.

In that short time that we were there, at least four different tables shared coupons with others. For a brief moment it was such a nice feeling like we were in a different world--a world where everyone cared and wanted to help one another. It's a great place and I wish we lived there all the time.

No comments: