Last Saturday my son finished his soccer game and was FAMISHED….there is nothing crabbier than a teenager who is hungry….well maybe his mother, but I digress.  Anyway he decided he wanted to try the “newish” hotdog stand in DesPlaines.  He was told the fries and dogs were every bit as good as Gene and Judes…but they allow you to order with ketchup. He had his plan..Hotdog, Extra Fries and a large Chocolate Shake. So that’s where we went. Ohhh it was crowded. We were about tenth in line. As we inched our way forward, I noticed no one was using a credit card and there was a shady looking ATM in the corner.  My eyes darted toward the cash register, then to the windows trying to spot the Visa/Master Card decal. Nothing. I asked the hot dog aficionado in front of me if they took charge..sure enough they did not.  I, of course, had no cash.  Looking at the crabby boy, I knew I didn’t have much time, so I decided to use the ATM.

“hold our spot I’ll get the cash”

I started to panic as the ATM took my information, and basically stopped.  The screen showed my information had been logged in but it kept spinning saying “your request is being processed” This went on for about 5 minutes. HUH?…I thought uh oh..this was a mistake….I envisioned my information being decoded somewhere off site and my identity being given to someone ready to do their damage on Amazon.  I was in my panic zone, I did not notice anything that was going on in the very crowded restaurant. My son had to give up our spot in line and came over to, I think, calm me down.  As he came over, a sheet spit out of the ATM saying the transaction was denied.  I felt better, I guess.  There was a man sitting next to the machine, obviously watching. He asked me how many people I was feeding and I responded, “just my son.”  He handed me twenty dollars. I couldn’t take it. “No”, I said, “thank you, but no”…He tried to hand it to my son. He also said no. Somehow I knew the man wasn’t going to let us leave without buying our lunch, so we took the twenty. I told my son to order. He ordered a hotdog and a Sprite. I have to say I felt a tingle of pride.  No extra fries, no shake, just enough to satisfy his hunger without spending too much.  We gave the change to the man and asked his name so we could repay him. He said it was his treat, he wanted to help out. We said we would pay it forward. There are kind people in this world, who want to help for the sake of helping. It’s a great feeling. So, try to find me around town, I owe someone lunch.