Paying it Forward: Holiday Edition

Forget sending Christmas cards, trimming the perfect tree and preparing the perfect gourmet meal for your holiday festivities. Christmas is supposed to be about giving. Two anonymous patrons at a Philadelphia diner poignantly remind us to keep our priorities in check this holiday season.

On Saturday morning, a couple walked into the Aramingo Diner, paid for their meal, and then quietly requested to pay the tab for another table of diners. That simple act of generosity set off a chain reaction of giving, prompting customers to pay for one another's meals for hours.

"It was magical. I had tears in my eyes because it never happened before. I've been here for 10 years, and I've never seen anything like that," Lynn Willard, a waitress at the restaurant, told NBCPhiladelphia.

"I could not believe it. And it continued and continued — it was very nice," Willard also said. "They asked us not to say anything until they left, say, 'Merry Christmas, that person picked up your check.'"

Their sweet act set off five hours of holiday magic, as customers continually paid for one another. The diner's manager said not one person balked at the price of another's check, which ranged between $12 and $30.

"It was a surprise to all of us; the girls were even taken aback," said the diner's manager. "Those who took the check also tipped the waitress. So nobody had to do anything other than pass it on, and that's what they did. They just passed it forward."

So thank you to those two humble diners who remind us all of the true spirit of the season.

Illustration courtesy of ba1969 via stock.xchang.