Most of us give teenagers a hard time. And, 99.9% of the time they deserve it. But every once in a while, you come across a kid that just surprises the heck out of you and does something nice. Let me explain.

Matthew, Marin, and I were patronizing a local burger joint yesterday. Matthew went to place our order while I took Marin, a high chair, and his way too big for words diaper bag to find us a table. Marin was dying to eat outside, so here we go trying to schlep the load out the door towards the patio. As I approach the door, I see a teenage boy (late teens, maybe 20 at the oldest) coming in. He spots us about the same time as we do him and not only does the kid hold the door open for us, he says, "Here, please let me get that" and gestures towards the high chair. He asks us where we'd like to sit and then carries the chair to the largest table at the back of the patio, having to squeeze past lots of other customers who were already seated. He did all this with a smile on his face too. I thanked him profusely and then spent the rest of the meal thinking that maybe all is not lost with the young folk. And, believe it or not, they kid DID NOT work there! He was there eating with his mom and who I assume was his sister. I really, really wanted to go up and thank the mom for raising such a gentlemen, but I didn't want to embarrass the kid.

Marin was just watching as all this was going on. I had him thank the boy too, of course. I was hoping that Marin was paying attention and that one day he'll pay it forward.

So, to wrap things up, if you see a mom (or dad) struggling with a kid and all their gear, grab the door for them. Ask them if you can get a high chair for them. It will make their day. I really hope that something good happens to that kid. It might not have been a big deal to him but it sure was to me. So, thanks again.