My title is an old saying. Even if it is true there is no such thing as a free lunch, I am here to tell you there is such a thing as a free dinner. Maybe I just created a new saying.
Six of us were having dinner together at The Georgia House restaurant 2903 miles east of Lakewood. I am surprised Don Doman has never written a restaurant review on The Georgia House.
I thought it would be nice if I pretended to be a big spender, so after catching the attention of our waitress, I asked her, to bring the bill for all six meals to me. She sauntered closer to me and said softly, “The deal is there is a man here who has offered to pay for everyone’s meal in the restaurant, including yours.”
She did not wish to identify the man. Yikes, a $76 meal paid for by a stranger. Can you believe it? We were blown away with his generosity. Not knowing if his offer included the tip, I left a tip and cared not if our waitress caught a double tip in the process.
We can learn two things from this experience.
- There are kind and generous people on our planet, and you can never be sure who or where they are.
- An act of generosity can be stretched beyond an original giving concept. It can be fun to think bigger
- We can all learn to pass a good deed forward. The recipient will likely feel good, and the giver will probably feel good too. It is all about making the world better.
Being a recipient of a stranger’s generosity inspires me to pass on his act of kindness in some form the next time a creative opportunity comes my way.
How do you feed six people for 76 bucks? I wish we had that restaurant here.
Eating in Delaware means no sales tax. Second secrete to cheap dinner is soup & wine only.
Joseph
There I go again. Having trouble with secrete Vs. secret. Should not try typing reply while watching grandson play soccer. Joseph
Free to you maybe, but someone paid for it. No exceptions to the rule. If the stranger hadn’t paid, then the restaurant, and the list goes on.
Joe, While there are no free lunches at restaurants, our schools have been teaching kids for years that there are free lunches in our school system. No need to pay, just sign up and eat, eat, eat.
I realize nutrition is critical to young kids who are learning, but some of our schools have 96% of the students enrolled in the Free & Reduced Lunch program.
I have concerns that when they graduate they will not know the value of earning their own way.
My sister who worked at a high school cafeteria (not in this state) told me each student received for lunch a tray consisting of a main meal, typically a cookie, and either milk or a soda. A fair number would eat the cookie, drink the soda (few elected milk), and throw the main meal in the trash. Good job, students. She also said that if there was any extra food (not from the trash of course), the school was not allowed to give any of it to food banks and the like. Reason being, that since the food was provided by the Dept. of Education it is intended for school students only. Thanks government.
Joe, given the month (October) and the location of the restaurant, and knowing who lives that far away (and that there are four of them now, and everyone is old enough to behave beautifully in a fine restaurant), I have a sneaking suspicion that it might have been a grateful member of your daughter’s (and her husband’s) congregation. Not at all difficult to imagine. Doesn’t everyone in town recognize and admire this family, and now feel privileged to have met the grandparents? (half of them, anyway)