“Dear PoPville,
On Sunday around noon at Duke’s Counter in Woodley Park, I benefited from a random act of kindness and need to thank the two very generous people responsible. I was telling my bartender buddy about my early forced retirement coming Monday and the impossible situation of trying to work through a funding freeze.
I must have been speaking louder than I thought, because when I tried to pay my bill, I learned that two young women sitting nearby who I hadn’t spoken to had already paid it, without saying a word before they left. I was truly touched by their kindness, and I will definitely pay it forward. Small gestures like this mean a great deal in tough times. If either of you read this, thank you very much.”