Generous act inspires friends to pay it forward

A tableful of women in their 70s and 80s who recently stopped for dinner before a choir performance in downtown Vancouver was left feeling shocked and grateful after a young family of strangers quietly covered the women’s tab, then slipped out the door before they could be thanked.

It was an act of kindness that has inspired the group of seven friends to pay it forward this holiday season, said Burnaby resident Louise Meville, one of the diners.

“I’m telling you, for seven little ladies here, we were quite shocked. Very, very shocked, but very appreciative and not knowing how to say thank you to anybody,” she said.

“Just the thought that somebody would do that for seven people, I mean, I thought oh my gosh.”

Meville and her friends, who live in cities around the region, were on their way to catch a performance by the Vancouver Men’s Chorus Thursday when they stopped for a bite at Stepho’s Souvlaki Greek Taverna on Davie Street.

After sitting down, members of the group noticed a couple enter the restaurant with a boy and take a nearby table that Meville guessed was a little out of earshot.

“We noticed the little boy was so cute, and that was the only contact we had,” she said.

The members of the group ordered food and drinks, chatted as they ate, then asked for their bills. It was then that their server told them their entire tab had already been covered, tip and all, by the young family that had eaten and departed.

“The fellow said please don’t let them know until we’ve left,” Meville said the server told the women. The server said she didn’t recall ever having seen the family in the restaurant before.

The friends have known each other for many years and get together to play cards, travel and take in events around the region, Meville said.

“We just wanted to say thank you, and we wanted whoever did it to know that in each of our own way, we will try to pay it forward doing things that each of us are comfortable with in our own communities. Just to pay it forward. To help surprise someone else with something in the holiday season,” she said.

A spokesman for Stepho’s said it is not uncommon to see acts of kindness during the holidays, but perhaps not acts as large as happened last week.