Shame On Me...

A slightly disturbing thing happened to me Monday. Brittany, Marissa and I went to eat at Ted's after school Monday night. Brittany and I have a class together at the Southeast campus of TCC and we got there first. We were taken and set at a table that would seat four. As we set down I noticed that at the table across from us sat a man all by him self. I never made eye contact, never gave him much thought at all for that matter.

We went about our meal laughing and talking like we do so well. After a time the man got up from his table and that is when I noticed his....great girth. He was a very large man and carried his weight in an odd manner. With out giving it a second thought I made a smart mouthed comment about his weight. Brittany and I kinda laughed and then carried on with out giving him a second thought.

A couple minuets later Marissa got there and we finished eating and set there talking for a little while longer. When the server came to give us our checks he looked at as and said "Ladies I am sorry but I do not have a check to give you. The gentleman that was here earlier took care of your check."

It took me a little while to process the comment that he made. That check would probably have been about thirty dollars or so. That is a lot of money to pay for someone else's (who you don't know) food. I have never had a total stranger pay for my meal with out saying anything or asking for something in return. I was instantly ashamed of my self and the comment that I had made making fun of the very man that payed for my meal. I am sure that the gentleman is not reading this blog but I would still like to say to him THANK YOU!

As for my shame, I cannot explain it totally but I can say that I have thought about this situation often. A little over a year ago I was furious at people for being so quick to judge others when they had no inkling of the full story. Now I find that I am guilty of this very thing. You can never tell what is lurking beneath the outside shell of a person and it not our business to judge those around us. For all I know this gentleman has a health problem that prevents him form loosing weight. I did not take this in to consideration and although he and I never talked, or even made eye contact for that matter I was still to quick to judge him.

Sorry for the...seriousness... of the post. But for some reason I cannot stop thinking about this.