The Kindness of Strangers

I frequently eat at Subway. Last time I was there the kid who rang up my order said "you have this many points on your Subway card. That's enough for a free 6-inch." So, today when I went there for lunch I thought, "I have enough points for a free 6-inch sandwich. I'm gonna use them and get lunch for free today," because, come on...who doesn't love free food?

I order my samdwich and get up to the register where I give the kid my card and say, "I believe there are enough points on here for a free 6-inch." The kid at the register swipes my card and informs me that I have 49 points and I need 50 points for the sandwich--I am only 1 point short! I am kinda confused at this point because I swear that the last kid who helped me said distinctly that I had enough points for a free sandwich. Nevertheless I pull out my debit card to just pay for the darn thing when a knight in shining armor swoops in on his noble steed to my rescue!

Well, actually he was wearing a blue button up and jeans and he was just the guy in line behind me, but all the same...what he did was pretty darn chivalrous. He said "why don't I pay for mine first and put the points on your card so you get your one more point?" (or something to that effect). I said, "really?! That is so nice!" And so he did. And I got my sandwich for free. And I was so flabbergasted at his kindness that all I could do was stand there in grateful awe and say "thank you" when if I my brain had been working properly I might have thought to say "thank you and here's my card" (as I give him one of my business cards that I have carried around for the last year just in case I needed one for something like this) and he might have called me up and we might have begun dating and then gotten married and had some cute little kids and a house with a yard and a dog...but none of that happened--I merely said "thank you"...and then he was gone forever. Sniff.

So to all of you who wonder where all the good guys are I say, they do exist! They are out there! They are timid creatures and rarely show themselves, so you've got to watch carefully--and keep a business card handy!

And Subway guy...if you're reading this...thanks again. You're my hero.