Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Small Gesture That Made My Day


--by PrincessAungie, posted Dec 30, 2010

My husband, my four-month old daughter and I set out on a five day driving journey from California to Washington. We had to stop frequently because oure little one needed to stretch from the car seat. 

One of our stops, once we crossed the Oregon border, was at a Black Bear Diner. Walking towards the front door we noticed a gentleman standing to one side. He was seriously dishelved, without shoes and wearing tattered clothing.  We passed right by him and opened the restaurant door.  

Then something told me to go back.

Holding my four-month old daughter I turned around and said to the gentleman, "Sir. Are you hungry?"  He said, "Yes."  I then asked, "May we buy you a bite to eat?" He responded with, "Sure, I can order something to go."

My husband opened the door and the gentleman went straight to the counter. I told him to order whatever he wanted. The manager of the restaurant came over quite quickly and looked horrified. I spoke before he had an opportunity to. "This gentleman will have lunch on us today," I said. "Please add his order to our tab." The manager crinkled his brow and said, "Ohhhhhhkay."

We turned to be escorted to our table and the gentleman said, loudly and quickly, "Thank You!"

We were seated and upon completing our meal we were presented with our tab. I asked my husband what the gentleman had ordered.

One fresh squeezed orange juice, one coffee, one breakfast combination with a side of hash browns. 

When we left the restaurant I looked for the gentlemen but didn't see him but that very small gesture just made my day.  I hope in some small way we were able to add some joy to his life, even if only for a few minutes.

7406 Reads

Readers Comments

oldgirl wrote: You showed a wonderful act of kindness to a hungry man princessaungie. It seems he appreciated it as well as he did not order up "big" but instead only asked for what he needed for the immediacy.
Sukhpal wrote: God bless you for your act of kindness!
LynnN wrote: Your story brought me to tears. I was the recipient of a random act of kindness just today and immediately came home to read this. It touched me profoundly. God bless you!
melesai wrote: Lovely. Just imagine you fed an angel that day. Keep up the giving always. Blessings
waltzc wrote: What a wonderful story!
Brenda wrote: When we touch the hungry and sick, we touch the suffering body of christ
LynneC wrote: Thank you for listening to your inner voice and making this person's day a brighter one. Happy new year!
Sarah wrote: What you did was great. I'm sure you made that man's day!
ironlady48 wrote: What a lovely and kind thing to do and what a great example to set for your daughter and the rest of us!
debbie wrote: God bless you for doing this. It might have been an angel put there by jesus to see who would respond. And you did! Your story made my day too!

Add A Comment