I took my wife out to dinner tonight. For those of you who’ve read Restaurant lifestyle…, this might seem out of character for me. Rest assured, however, I didn’t pay full price. I used one of my favorite sites, Restaurant.com to get a discounted gift certificate.

As you may know, I live in north St. Louis, a very cool town with a lot of culture and personality. There’s a lot to do and see, and my wife and I want to get more acquainted with the city where we live. The cheapest way to be a tourist is to be one in your own home town.

Tonight we drove downtown past the arch to an area of town known as Soulard. We went to a place known as Fat Toney’s BBQ. The food was fantastic and it has a great cozy atmosphere. It was different than your typical chain restaurant. The staff was very friendly and treated us like they’ve known us for years.

While we were there, a bum walked in and asked us to let him know if we had any left over food when we were done. I didn’t really like this idea because I really liked the food and planned on finishing everything. Plus, if he’s hungry he’d probably be better off with a full meal.

After a while, the lady at the cashier came out and talked to us and told us that she was going to have to get rid of the bum sitting on the curb outside. Before she could go out and talk to him, though, I told her that I’d like to buy him a plate of food. All it would have cost me was about $8. The cashier didn’t want me to have to buy him the food so she went back and made him a plate to go, on the house.

On our way out, I went and gave a two dollar bill to both of the people working there. The food and the service were great. I’m also glad we were able to help someone out.

The point I’m making here is that generosity is contagious and there are plenty of opportunities to help others if you’ll look around you. I was more than willing to buy the food for him, but I could tell that in the end the cashier was glad she helped someone out.

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