Spirit of Giving

Sunday night we went out to eat. It had been a long week for all of us and it was an Adventure Girl Night at Restaurant House. Comfort was in rare form and occasionally broke out into song in between bites of 'rock-a-roni'. We heard verses from Mary Poppins, WALL-E, Elmo in Grouchland and perhaps a couple of others that I've blanked out. The restaurant wasn't overly crowded since it was a holiday weekend so many of our fellow guests were treated to a show with their dinner.

Several times throughout our meal the couple beside us caught our eye and smiled or nodded along with the song as Comfort sang. I will say, she wasn't singing loudly or I would have nipped this in the bud. Instead it was just loud enough that the tables just contiguous to us could 'enjoy'.

This same couple came back from their trip to get dessert with an extra banana. I didn't even know this place had real fruit but the woman explained that she always asked for one to make herself a banana split and they had given her two. She asked if we'd like the other. Comfort was busy singing but Joy enjoyed half of that banana very nicely.

As we were leaving they asked Comfort her name at which point she told them how old she was, we're still working on appropriate responsese to questions, and asked if they could give her something. I figured it would be some little token or toy so I said yes. The woman fished in her purse and pulled out a crisp dollar bill and told Comfort she could use it to buy herself something. Comfort passed it along to me and we said thank you, very much and good night.

So, have you painted yourself a picture of the couple that was sitting next to us at dinner? Can you see them? You think they are someone's grandparents and the woman was carrying a big purse and maybe had bouffant blue hair. The man was tall and lanky and walked with a cane.

Actually, they were in their mid-20's. They were talking on their cell phones part of the meal. The woman's purse was not much bigger than my hand - or her phone! Her eye shadow was bright blue - which is apparently back in style from the 70s - and her clothes were super trendy. He was dressed comfortably but definitely with care.

And my point here isn't that Comfort needed to have that dollar. It's that they needed to give it. If I'd said, "Oh, that's too generous of you," and handed it back - I'm sending a message that giving isn't worth the trouble. It was too generous of them but I can appreciate their expression and we won't just let Comfort buy anything with it but someday when she's old enough I'll have a really great story to tell her and, yes, maybe there will be a trip for an ice cream cone this week, too.