a story about corndogs, diet coke, and generosity

This past Wednesday night, just before our youth service was beginning to start, I thought I would run across the street to the QT (Quik Trip) that is conveniently located a stone's throw from our church.  My stomach was reminding me that I had forgotten to pack my dinner for the night and my nutritional/health conscious side of me was yearning for a corndog and a diet coke (minor sarcasm intended) from the most amazing gas station convenient store ever created.  So, off to QT I went.

Now, if you don't know me, I love starting conversations with random people.  I feel like so often we go through life avoiding eye contact with people so we don't have to engage in human interaction.  I even catch myself doing this at times.  However, something I enjoy doing (generally) is finding ways to talk and engage with people.  I have had dozens of interesting edifying conversations with people by doing this.

Back to the story.

So, I am next in line getting ready to purchase my healthy cuisine when the cashier calls me up.  The gentleman next to me had already paid for his gasoline but was still fiddling with his wallet.  As I walked up to the counter I showed the QT employee my two items and delightfully told him that the gentleman next to me was going to pay for them.  This is an example of one of the many awkward ways I talk to people.

That is when something pretty cool happened.

With a complete straight face, the man said, "I would be glad to do that, I got ya."  I was surprised by his words and immediately told him I was joking and proceeded to take out my wallet.  He continued, "If you don't have the money, I would be glad to purchase your food for you."  Again, I assured him I was only joking and apologized for the confusion.  As I paid for my food, I turned to him and said, "Wow, you must have a pretty good heart to be willing to do something like this."  He responded by saying, "I just know there are a lot of people who are hungry in the world and I wanted to help you out if you needed some assistance."

I patted the man on the back and said, "God bless you brother, that is a great attitude," and I walked out of the store.

And that is my corndog/diet coke/generosity story.