If you can't pay it forward, consider Paying It Funny
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Since we are deluged with so much difficult, distressing news each day, I hope you don't mind if I share some funny experiences that I hope will help balance all of the negativity and enable you to enjoy some healthy laughter.
I am blessed to have an octogenarian neighbor who, despite being a curmudgeon and getting great joy about complaining about food or restaurant services, has a heart of gold. Over the last 20 years, he has been there for me hundreds of times, to fix my lawnmower, jump start my car when the battery needs charging, drive me all over the area to get food, and provide a seasoned ear whenever I need guidance in my life. Best neighbor i could ever ask for, and each year that goes by i just cherish him more, and I hope our friendship continues for many years more.
He does so much for me and won't accept anything in return, but I have felt obligated to do something for him to pay him back. Paying forward is what I do for a living by building the next generation of skilled technicians, so it didn't seem appropriate to do nothing, so I invented a new way: Pay It Funny.
My neighbor is a ROMEO: Retired Old Man Eating Out. Since he lives alone, a favorite pasttime of his is to engage in arguing with wait staff at his favorite restaurants. The waitresses love to give him grief after he criticizes whatever he deems worthy to complain about each day. On the surface it may seem an unhappy relationship, and he may seem to enjoy being angry. But my guess is it's a way of experiencing human interaction and getting much needed attention, without having to ask or seem needy.
Ten years ago, I finally figured out a way to Pay it Funny for my neighbor by giving the waitress that he argues with the most $20 to pay for his future meals when he comes back. I could have never predicted the hilarious outcomes.
When the waitresses told him his meals were already paid for by a benefactor, it totally changed his normal cantankerous demeanor into confusion and calmed him down. He wanted to know who pre-paid for his meals, but you could see he appreciated that someone valued him.
Because I knew that he would reject payment for his food if he got it from me, I told waitresses to tell him that a beautiful blond, brunette or even redhead lady that admired him paid for it. I left the descriptions up to them each time.
Over the years, those waitresses really got into this prank, and my neighbord was at a loss as to how to respond to this generosity from the mystery benefactors. Each time I paid them in advance and he would come in, they’d say “You just missed her.”
By the way I am a 6 ‘4”, 240-pound man, but those waitresses kept telling him I was a blond, brunette or redhead woman and once even told this staunch Republican that a Democrat bought his meal. That really confused him as he also loved to hate democrats. Trying to figure out who the beautiful women buying his meals were made him forget his ailments and problems.
After doing this several times, it became hard to fess up and take credit or blame for this gesture. This guy has done so much for the community. It was nice to see him get some positive attention albeit via a prank that became a happy tradition. This went on for more than eight years. I have bought hundreds of his meals - until a new waitress spilled the beans and told him I was behind all of it.
As opposed to getting angry at me for doing this, he smiled, understanding it had begun not out of spite or meanness, but out of love and appreciation. Although this guy is much older than me, he is like an older brother, and we still go out weekly to dine and share life experiences, complain about various issues that need to be addressed, and enjoy time together.
So if you can't pay it back, Pay It Funny and maybe you, too, can make a cranky old man happy, or find a way to repay some kindness in your life with some laughter.
Hope you enjoyed this story. Stay tuned for more real life funny and interesting stories to help us balance breaking news, to encourage us to savor our lives and not just be anxious about the future.
