A stranger bought me lunch today
 

This has never happened to me before. Today the wife, the boy and I were out running some errands. We stopped by Applebee's for lunch (got the Jalapino Jack Chicken sandwich...delicious). As we finished up, I asked for the check. The server went to get it, and when she returned said "I've been told to tell you that your bill is taken care of." After taking 20 seconds to comprehend what happened, and confirming the information she just conveyed, I told the server to offer thanks and a Merry Christmas to my anonymous benefactor.

I can only speculate why. Military guy w/young boy and expectant wife around Christmas? Probably. Though it was very nice and I greatly appreciated the gesture, I'm a CPT who makes pretty decent coin. It could probably have been better spent on someone else (namely a junior enlisted type for whom a trip to Applebees is a big deal). Only course of action I can think of is to remain grateful and to return the favor to someone else next time I'm out. In any event it was nice to see the Christmas spirit alive and well.

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

What a cute post.

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

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Only course of action I can think of is to remain grateful and to return the favor to someone else next time I'm out. In any event it was nice to see the Christmas spirit alive and well.

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I think the point was that you're doing something that people appreciate already, so there is no necessary course of action.

~D

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

i take it you had a uniform on. where can i get one? i have quite the appetite.

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

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i take it you had a uniform on. where can i get one? i have quite the appetite.

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free uniforms here

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

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i take it you had a uniform on. where can i get one? i have quite the appetite.

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Actually no, just my Wayne Gretzky "Superfan #99" jersey. The short haircut is a dead giveaway though.

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

Do Female Pilots have to shave their heads too?

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

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namely a junior enlisted type for whom a trip to Applebees is a big deal

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Hey jerkoff when did going to applebees become a big deal for enlisted. Your a Capt? What rock have you been hiding under... You way out of touch man. We are not talking about $100.00 plates here. Its applebees its not that big of a deal.

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

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I can only speculate why. Military guy w/young boy going to Applebee's to stuff the face of his expectant wife around Christmas? Probably.

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FYP

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

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namely a junior enlisted type for whom a trip to Applebees is a big deal

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Hey jerkoff when did going to applebees become a big deal for enlisted. Your a Capt? What rock have you been hiding under... You way out of touch man. We are not talking about $100.00 plates here. Its applebees its not that big of a deal.

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Actually I'm a lot more in touch than you know. For a single PFC who lives in the barracks and next to no living expenses, you're right Applebees isn't a big deal. For an E4-E5 with a stay at home mom raising 5 kids at home (and I have quite a few) IT'S HUGE. If you had my perspective of working to get food vouchers and/or toys for these families to help them out for Christmas, then you might understand. My point is that while I'm grateful and humbled at the stranger's generousity, he/she could have picked a more deserving target.

Oh Yeah, Merry Christmas.

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

Merry Christmas....

I'm not a fan of war etc....Without getting boring...But all you guys do a great job....

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

It got pretty scandalous, with plenty of stories in the news, about how many people in the military were on food stamps. A trip out to a sit-down restaurant is definitely a big deal when you're on food stamps.

Nice post by the way. This is the kind of charity I like - truly anonymous. And it's a kind of pay it forward deal that is also at the heart of truly being giving. You do it without expect of recompense, and the only way to pay it back is for you to do something nice for someone else entirely. And not just someone you were going to do something nice for anyway; no cheesing out. Some burdens are actually cool to carry. They wake your spirit up, if nothing else. Good for the soul.

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

I have little respect for most random people, but I have a lot of respect and admiration for the balls that you guys have for defending our country. I think instead of donating to charities this year, Ill do something like this, it seems that this would be much more relevant nowadays.

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

I once had a couple of mobsters pick up my tab at one of NYC's best Italian restaurants.

Re: A stranger bought me lunch today
 

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This has never happened to me before. Today the wife, the boy and I were out running some errands. We stopped by Applebee's for lunch (got the Jalapino Jack Chicken sandwich...delicious). As we finished up, I asked for the check. The server went to get it, and when she returned said "I've been told to tell you that your bill is taken care of." After taking 20 seconds to comprehend what happened, and confirming the information she just conveyed, I told the server to offer thanks and a Merry Christmas to my anonymous benefactor.

I can only speculate why. Military guy w/young boy and expectant wife around Christmas? Probably. Though it was very nice and I greatly appreciated the gesture, I'm a CPT who makes pretty decent coin. It could probably have been better spent on someone else (namely a junior enlisted type for whom a trip to Applebees is a big deal). Only course of action I can think of is to remain grateful and to return the favor to someone else next time I'm out. In any event it was nice to see the Christmas spirit alive and well.


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Seems pleasant enough...

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namely a junior enlisted type for whom a trip to Applebees is a big deal

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Hey jerkoff when did going to applebees become a big deal for enlisted. Your a Capt? What rock have you been hiding under... You way out of touch man. We are not talking about $100.00 plates here. Its applebees its not that big of a deal.

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huh?