People are crazy :)

"God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy."

I love that song from Billy Currington. If you haven't heard it, you can check out the YouTube video.

Elijah had an ear appointment today down the hill in San Bernardino. The last time I took him there we were way early, so him and I had a lunch date at IHOP. Even though that was five months ago, of course he remembers! He asked at the appointment if we could go to the restaurant after. I said if he listens to the doctor and behaves then we can go (that went for AJ as well!). They were both good and as their reward, we went to IHOP just around the corner from his ENT doctor's office. I kept asking him if he was sure he wanted to eat there, because lately he has also asked about Red Robin. He was sure he wanted to eat at IHOP. Fine by me!

We pull up to IHOP and it is just after 4:00pm. The parking lot was nearly empty and as I glanced at the clock, I thought we probably even beat the early bird special. When we go inside there are only two other people sitting at a table together, a man sporting a long beard accompanied by a young gal (looked like his daughter). The boys and I are seated at a table a few rows down. We order our meal, the boys are playing and we're minding our own business. About 10 minutes later I see an elderly gentleman come in and sitting alone. It's funny how oddly aware you are of being one of three groups of people in a restaurant. It makes the restaurant seem so much smaller without the usual filled booths. I would have thought that sitting in there with so few people would make the restaurant seem bigger, but instead it made me oddly aware of who was around me and how easily I could see from wall to wall. I suppose when the restaurant is filled with people, you don't pay nearly as much attention to them.

Why are people crazy, you ask?

The first to leave is the man with the beard. I notice him say something quietly to the waiter before they leave but I don't think much of it. About 10-15 minutes after that man leaves, I overhear our waiter telling the elderly gentleman that the man with the beard sitting at the booth by the window paid for his meal. The waiter says, "He didn't want me to tell you until after he left, but he wanted to pay for your meal." I thought that was the sweetest thing I heard and realized how kind that was of the other man.

A moment later, the waiter walks up to me, and says, "I just wanted to let you know, the man that was sitting over here with the beard paid for your meal and the other gentleman's over there. He didn't want me to tell you until after he left, but he wanted to pay for both your meals." I was speechless. When I overheard the waiter saying the elderly man's meal was paid for, I thought that was kind enough, let alone paying for my meal and Elijah's and AJ's. Somehow I managed to spit out to the waiter how shocked and kind that was. For real, I was speechless. That doesn't happy very often, mind you! I've never had a stranger do such a kind thing like that for me. On the way home, Billy Currington's song "God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy" played through my mind. Granted we aren't talking about a millionaire inheritance, but I continue to think how amazing and kind that man is.

I was so appreciative, I wanted to leave a huge tip for the waiter, even though he wasn't the one who did this kind act. The generosity left me wanting to give more to someone. Unfortunately for me I only had my debit card on me and was planning on adding my tip on the receipt at the end of the meal. When we were leaving, AJ wanted chocolate milk and not regular milk, so I tried to use that as an excuse to get the waiter to ring up something else for me. When I asked him I said I could pay for the extra, but he told me don't worry about it. I hope he saw what I was trying to do and didn't think I was some jerk who was jipping him a tip! However, the least I could do was leave a "Keep Your Tips!" Ron Paul 2012 card on the table for him... :)

AJ chowing down on his burger. He's such a good eater!

Elijah eating his yogurt from his "Create a Face" pancake meal. The booth right behind Elijah's head is where the awesome-generous man was sitting.

On another note, earlier today when I was making the scrapbook page, Elijah decided he wanted to join me in crafting and art. He says, "I'm going to make a butterfly!" and every few minutes was coming to me for advice or assistance about his butterfly. In the end, he did it all himself and I just helped him by cutting the ribbon/string for his butterfly and we put some glue dots to hold it down. He is so proud of this butterfly. It's so sweet! When I asked if I could take a picture of him with it (Hello, Project Life!), he beamed with pleasure! He was even so proud of his art that he asked to tape it by his bunk bed. So sweet. :) Little man likes to craft and be artsy just like his Mama and Daddy!

Project 365 / Project Life - Jan 10