Christmas Memories
We have one Fishers Christmas story to share, please feel free
to share your own. As Christmas got closer this year I kept on
thinking about last Christmas Eve. It was Christmas Eve Day 2004
and my wife and I were off to her parents' house in northern
Indiana. We had a late start and decided to get some fast food
and eat on the way to Kendallville, Indiana. We stopped at the
Steak & Shake at 116th Street and I-69 and ordered our 'usual'
at the drive-thru. The Steak & Shake in Fishers is quicker than
most and we were next in line after a few minutes, behind a
woman waiting for her food.
When we drove up to get our food, the Steak & Shake employee
informed us the woman in front of us had paid for our meal. A
complete stranger in the drive-thru came up with the idea to buy
the cars meal behind her. We were shocked, Fishers own version
of "Pay It Forward". What a 'Christmas-like' concept! Not asking
for a gift in return, not even asking for acknowledgement, she
bought the lunch for the car behind her on the day before
Christmas.
So in the Christmas Spirit, and only because of the woman in
front of us, we paid for the car behind us. We drove up to
Kendallville talking about how nice that woman was for buying
our lunch. What a wonderful gesture to surprise a stranger like
that, even if it was just a fast food meal. Curiosity also led
us to wonder about the reaction from the car behind us. Were
they as surprised and grateful as we were? Did they buy the meal
for the car behind them?
We imagined the rest of Christmas Eve Day at the Steak & Shake
drive-thru; people were getting a 'free meal' and then paying
for the car behind them. Imagine an entire day of no one paying
for their own meal. Every car drives up to the drive-thru and
learns their meal is free, and then decides to buy the family's
meal behind them. It's nice to think something like that could
happen these days, especially so close to Christmas. A sincere
thank you to the 'woman in the car in front of us' for
confirming our faith in other people. A little gesture like that
made for a Christmas Eve in Fishers we will never forget.