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Ashley touched upon this topic slightly in our November wrap up. We stated a thesis that we believe the good in humanity outweighs the depraved of the world. Even, in light of recent events, we hold our trust in the goodness of humanity. Yes, abhorrent acts of evil do happen, the media loves to latch onto this and use it to keep the general public afraid.  Simple acts of kindness tend to get brushed aside for war, terror, fear, and reality TV stars.  Yes, I do group celebrity news in with all the atrocities that the media likes to keep us focused on.  With all of this out there, Ashley and I hold onto our belief that the good in this world outweighs the evil.

This is not us being naive in our perspective of the world; our view comes from the reality that we deal with in our everyday interactions with people from all walks of life.  Everyday Ash and I encounter kindness, love, compassion and understanding.  So, instead of continuing the same regurgitated fear and terror our media likes to sell us, we want to share some stories with you of human kindness that we’ve encountered, over this holiday season.

These articles will share stories of people going out of their way to help us, little simple things that go unnoticed but to us have a sizable impact on our life and our outlook on this world, that we as inhabitants of this world are more unified than divided then certain people would like us to believe. This is a reminder over the holiday season that we should keep paying it forward.

Our first story of the season we’ll be looking back to the beginning of our trip in Santa Fe.

Our trip around the world was in its first chapter and we had just arrived to the small dusty western city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was my birthday and Ash and I had planned to have a nice evening out on the town. Our desire was to listen to great music and grab a bite to eat. We found a little restaurant that entertained us with live Broadway performances while we ate. The wait staff were the entertainers as they were all talented Broadway style singers that performed for us while simultaneously serving us. The entertainment was wonderful, the food was delicious and reasonable in price for a higher end restaurant.

During our dinner an older man, sitting to the side of us, started up a conversation with Ashley and I.  Small talk, you know: where you’re from, what are you doing in Santa Fe, and so on. It was a lovely little conversation as we learned a little about each other. He and his group finished dinner and they bid us a farewell, wishing me a happy birthday and good tidings on our trip. Ashley and I thought nothing more of the encounter as we conversed over our dessert options. Our waitress approached our table with a grin then went from one ear to the other, a smile that big could only mean news that was overwhelmingly good. Indeed her news was great, but not to the extent I would have ever guessed.

The man who sat next to us had paid for our dinner up until that point.

I was stunned and had no idea what to do. I had realized then that we had never formally introduced ourselves to the man or maybe his name had slipped my mind. I asked if the gentleman was still here because I wanted to thank him. The waitress informed me that the man did not want us to even know that it was him but for the gesture to be an anonymous act of kindness. She had accidentally let that fact slip in her excitement.

I was taken aback that he paid for our meal and walked away without another word or need of a thank you. We were overwhelmed with gratitude and at lost for words for awhile. Ash and I could just say wow and stare at each other in disbelief. We both felt the need to thank someone in person but there was no one to thank there. All we could do was continue with our evening and enjoy.

I look back on it and this small act of kindness still chokes me up. The man did not want a thank you, he did not even want us to know it was him. He did not do this for praise he did it because he was kind, and I assume to make our night special. It might not seem like a lot to some but for us it meant the world. I still wish I could find him and thank him. I will never forget that dinner or that night because of what he did.

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Alex

Alex is a passionate traveler and writer that enjoys experiencing different cultures through their food and drinking customs. Travel is what fuels him and as long as there is food out there to eat he will never stop exploring and sharing it with you.