Paying It Forward - A Good Deed That Keeps Going

Paying It Forward is an act of kindness described as the concept of asking that a good turn be repaid by having it done to others instead. These random acts of kindness are usually done with no motive intended except to make someones day. This tradition has gone on for many years. People are caught totally off guard by the nice deed that is passed along to them for them to also pass along to make a difference in the life of another.

I personally have had the pleasure of being blessed out of the blue by this great deed myself. It was a day that I coincidentally was down to my last $20.00 and I was in the Giant Food Store in Eastover Shopping Center (Oxon Hill, MD). I was trying my best to budget this little bit of money without leaving myself broke in the process so I picked up some eggs, lunchmeat, bread etc. and proceeded to the self-checkout stand to pay for my groceries. As I was standing there scanning my items, this other patron walked up behind me and proceeded to wait his turn, at least I thought. I continued until I was down too the last item and my total was $14.09. As I reached in my purse to retrieve the money, the man behind me said, "Let me get that for you". In obvious shock I looked up and saw a tall African American male with a $50.00 bill in his hand already inserting the money into the machine before I could resist. I asked if he wanted anything for this kind thing he had just did and he said, "No, this is something I gotta do for me". Still in shock I said Thank You, and he replied, "Don't thank me, thank GOD".

As I left the store damn near in tears I was haunted all the way home by this spine chilling incident that had just happened. I had never had an experience of this nature and it was almost as if I had seen a ghost. I told everyone I knew that day of my experience and they all said it was a blessing because I was such a good person. I still was very curious so I looked it up online and I saw that this type of occurrence is not as odd as I thought. I read of various incidents where people have had this experience. One article I read, the guy said that he almost always pays the pay toll for the car behind him when he goes through just to know he made someone smile that day. How thoughtful I thought. So I made it my business to continue this act of kindness the next time I had a little extra money.

To return the favor, I was having lunch one day in a restaurant named Ruby Tuesday's in Washington, D.C. This particular restaurant is located just blocks from the White House so it was full of tourist with money to burn. I scoped the scene as I ate and spotted a family of four, a mom, dad and two little kids. I waited for them to ask for their check then I walked over and asked the waiter to swipe my card for their bill. I made sure I left before she returned to the family. I would have loved to have seen the look on their faces when she returned to the table and told them their bill was already paid for by the nice lady who was gone. I smiled all the way home. It really did make me feel good to do something for someone else without a motive or hidden agenda behind it. 

There is also a great movie based on this subject called "Pay It Forward" with Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Jon Bon Jovi, Haley Joel Osment and Mimi Leder. In this inspirational film, Kevin Spacey is a teacher who gives his students an assignment To Save The World by doing good deeds.