Paying it forward

I meet men in the strangest places. Today, it was the salad bar at Stop & Shop just 1/2-mile down the road from work.

Over the last few weeks, I've made substantial changes to my diet, not because I have any idealistic notions of losing weight, but because I'm trying to ensure I'm getting enough vitamins/minerals. I've cut-down on greasy and sugary foods and replaced them with healthy alternatives and, for the most part, I feel great because of it. But with this new healthy diet comes the burden of having to prepare something for lunch every day, which I'm notoriously bad at. 

Today, I ventured out of the office shortly before lunchtime to get something healthy for this afternoon. When I turned on the radio in my car on the way to the store, one of my favorite songs (John Mellencamp's "Hurt So Good") was playing, which immediately put me in a good mood. I made it to the store before the last chorus ended, belted out the last refrain, updated my Facebook status, and made my way inside... When I got there, I noticed a man not much older than myself at the salad bar. He was wearing an air force uniform and was fairly good looking. He also wasn't wearing a wedding ring, which didn't mean anything really, other than I have about a 75 percent chance that he was actually single. Being the shyest person on earth, however, and thus not willing to initiate a conversation, I grabbed a to-go container and circled around to the opposite side, careful to avoid eye contact. Minutes later, I was standing in line behind him with an elderly woman between us. Before Mr. Air Force made it to the cashier, the woman turned around and offered me her spot in line.

"You've only got the one thing, go ahead," she said.

"Are you sure?" I asked and she nodded. "Thank you very much." I really do appreciate it when people are pleasant. It makes it so much easier to be happy.

"Would you like to leapfrog again in front of me?" Mr. Air Force asked.

I declined. He only had a few items and that way I could surreptitiously admire him.

"No, I'm all set, thanks. That would be far too much generosity to pay forward," I said.

He laughed and said something else I can't quite remember and we went back and forth a few times.

Was I really trying to flirt with this guy?

He told me I'd still have to do something nice for someone else to pay forward the elderly woman's generosity, to which I replied that I would be courteous and allow someone to cut in front of me out on the road.

"You'll only pay about 40 percent of it back, though" he said. "That's not gonna cut it." 

We continued on in that fashion for another minute or so and he paid for his items and left the store. I wasn't too far behind him and as I was walking out toward the parking lot, I spotted him climbing into a pickup truck not too far from my car.

I wish I could say I had the nerve to actually introduce myself to him or get his name, but I haven't quite worked myself up to that point yet. I did, however, slip into the conversation that I worked for the local newspaper, so maybe if I'm nice and "pay it forward" a bit, Karma will return the favor and somehow put us in touch again.

And just in case I needed to push things along, I wrote an editorial for this week about the importance of paying it forward. If he reads the paper, or if he happens to pick one up this week on a whim (what are the odds?), he'll see it.

We'll see if fate intervenes on my behalf but until then, I'm gonna suck up to Karma for awhile and be as kind and considerate as possible. It couldn't hurt, right?