Unbelievable!

I walked into Portage Bay Cafe in Seattle this morning and it was packed - 10 AM in a university town on a football Saturday will do that. I was alone and the hostess asked if I minded sitting at the bar facing the window. No problem - I got to sit right away. As is human nature in a situation like this I chose my seat with insulation between myself and the strangers around me - there was a single empty chair to my left insulating me from the line of people waiting to sit and a single chair to my right insulating me from the couple at the end of the bar. 

Midway through my meal an older woman asks me very nicely, "What are the chances you would be willing to slide over a chair to allow me and my granddaughter to sit down?" I gave her a lighthearted look like I was really considering her request and then in my croaky voice from the stupid cold I have I said, "The chances are very good. I'd be more than happy to move." I asked if she had a preference of direction but ultimately I decided to move to the left toward the line of waiting customers to give the two of them a more comfortable experience. 

I ate my meal and overheard a little of their conversation. It was nothing particularly interesting, but the fact that these two had such a friendly relationship made me smile. I decided that I was going to pick up their check - the giant rock on "grandma's" hand said she could afford it, but I just really felt like it was something I needed to do. 

I finished my meal and the waitress cleared my plate and I sat and waited for my check. And I waited. I was getting a little annoyed. Finally, the waitress comes back, asks if I need anything else and leans closer to my ear to tell me that "the two women to the right of me had picked up my meal." 

I could not believe it! First of all they beat me to the punch, so to speak, but it perfectly capped off my incredible visit to Seattle. I thanked them profusely and walked out to my car feeling like I had just been given an incredible gift. ME! A stranger did that for me.

So, for the grandmother and granddaughter at Portage Bay Cafe on Roosevelt  in Seattle, Washington at about 10:30 AM on Saturday, October 30, 2010 who did me such an incredible kindness I am sending two pairs of brand new shoes to my friend Bree to help the Marshall Islander community she has adopted in Hawaii for Christmas.

There is something about the venture that I am pursuing right now that feels so incredibly right, to me this is yet another indication that I am on the right path.