It was a hot summer night at the Dairy Queen on north Main Street here in Princeton. A mom and her three kids were waiting in line. A middle-aged couple sat on the bench.
“Hey strangers. You just sitting here, waiting for someone you can buy an ice cream cone for?” I asked.
“Well, it’s kind of funny that you said that,” he answered. “We’re actually on a generosity tour.”
Then his wife chimed in. “We drove from South Dakota to Pennsylvania and now we’re on our way back.”
“I was just kidding," I said. “But it would be kinda fun, wouldn’t it? A Pay it Forward treat tonight!”
They laughed. I got my vanilla cone and dripped it all over myself. She waved a five dollar bill at me and winked.
“Really. I was just kidding,” I Iaughed as she gave me a napkin. She put her money away and we had a nice little conversation. Turned out her husband had grown up in Danville, Pennsylvania, where my parents owned a farm 50 years ago. Right off Interstate 80. Like Princeton, here at Exit 56.
“You from here?” she asked. “What do you do?”
I mentioned that I run a used bike shop where people give us bicycles, we fix them and give most of them away.
“We thought this seemed like a pretty friendly place when we came off the interstate,” she said. Then she and her husband headed out to the parking lot. They talked a couple minutes, then stopped before turning back on to Main Street.
She handed me a check for $100.
She and her husband both smiled as they drove off and waved.
Generosity tour.
I’m Rick Brooks, and that’s my Perspective.
