[Bigdaddydvo]

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.