Yesterday morning was a special Hanna & Mommy morning.

We went out for breakfast at a local breakfast restaurant and ordered a couple of “All Day Breakfast” specials, even though it was 8:30am so the “all day” thing didn’t have quite that same je ne sais quoi.

At the end of the meal, I noticed a man looking at Hanna and then he said hello to her. It seemed fishy and I didn’t like that she happily replied, “Hello” and continued to eat.

As he was walking out the door, I leaned into Hanna and explained that she shouldn’t say “Hello” to someone she doesn’t know even if she is with me. It just didn’t sit well.

Then the waitress approached our table and said that our meals had been paid for by a man who frequents the restaurant and chooses a random table every time he visits and pays for their meal.

Sorry stranger I just yelled at my daughter for saying hello to you. Friends?

So there was a wave of excitement and happiness and “people really ARE good,” followed by some random “yippee!” and side leaps where your feet clap in the air and it sure beat the whole dine-and-dash thing we had been planning.

Hanna said, “Can we do that too, Mom?” Of course.

I told her to choose any table in the restaurant (fingers crossed she wouldn’t select the group of 8 University students in the corner who were drinking their body weight in chocolate milk.)

She said, “I want the Grandmas sitting in the window.”

Perfect. You know Grandmas are eating light and drinking tea.

So to the two lovely ladies enjoying their all-day-breakfast yesterday, thank you for giving my 10 year old the opportunity to pay it forward.