The best impulsive purchase ever

After a night of theraputic Sex and the City (I am so channeling Carrie right now), I decided to go out for breakfast before turning in for the uh...next few hours before work. I eventually wound up at Denny's, where I sat next to a guy in college. He was coming through the want ads, asking about jobs. He then started asking the waitress about breakfast prices. Believe me, Denny's isn't exactly a cheap place to grab a bite to eat.

He wound up biting the bullet and setting on the lowest-cost meal they had plus juice - the same thing I had gotten. It would cost him about $6. While waiting for our food, I chatted with him a bit. He was in college but had to drop out recently because he couldn't afford it and absolutely hated it. He got up and went to the bathroom after a few minutes. While he was gone, I remembered every single thing that folks have done for me when I was down on my luck, or just to help me out.

So I flagged down the waitress and paid for his meal.

The guy sitting to the other side of him looked at me and smiled. "It's so nice to see that there's still good people in the world."

There really is a lot of good people in the world. It's something that becomes apparent in times like these, when more than 26,000 people on the other side of the world have passed away because of a natural disaster. I can't do anything to help them. But I can help the boy sitting next to me.

When Paula Evans gave me the $75 needed so I could meet Joe Lando when I was in college, she didn't ask me to pay her back. She asked me to help someone else instead when I could afford it. I can now afford it.

I left after paying our bills and never told the boy. For the first time since realizing my phone calls to Knoxville weren't going to be returned, I felt really happy and at peace.

So here's a New Year's resolution for the rest of you - buy a stranger a meal sometimes. It helps to remind you of what you have and how lucky you truly are.