People are pretty OK sometimes.
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About a year ago I was in an accident and suffered second- and third-degree burns over 18% of my body, and I soon realized that I would never look the same again. After a few months of sitting around moping about my situation, I decided to get out of the house, so I made a mani/pedi appointment with my usual nail girl who knew of my situation.
Throughout my appointment she asked me questions about the accident and the aftermath, none of which I was keen to discuss. The woman next to me overheard the conversation but never said a word. At the end of the appointment, I was getting my wallet out to pay when my nail girl told me that the woman next to me had paid for my mani/pedi and tipped excessively. It's because of that woman that I finally felt comfortable to go out.
I grew up in a family of four sisters being raised by a single mom. Money was always tight, and my mom fought to give us the kind of life she thought we deserved. Still, you could always see the tension in her face as the holidays approached. One year was particularly hard for our family, and my mom had absolutely no extra money for Christmas presents or Christmas dinner, and she was devastated.
The day before Christmas Eve she came home from work smiling and with tears in her eyes. "Santa" had left a $100 gift card on her desk with a note telling her to make sure her kids got a good Christmas. To this day, we still don't know who Santa was. I've long since forgotten the toys we got, but I think of this stranger every day and thank him or her for bringing my mom a smile that Christmas, something that I hadn't seen on her face in a long time.
