Random Acts Of Kindness On Local Restaurant's Menu

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - There's something special going on at a local restaurant where random acts of kindness are on the menu.

Maybe it's something in the water at the Eat'n Park on Route 51. At least once a week, someone picks up the tab for a perfect stranger.

"I was just [kind of] in shock, in awe," Glen Bootay said.

It happened to Bootay while he was eating lunch with his family.

"I handed the lady behind the counter the check and she says it's already been taken care of," Bootay said.

It's is a busy restaurant, which serves more than 10,000 customers a week. However, a man took the time to notice Bootay and his hat.

"I was a sergeant. I served with the Third Infantry division, part of the first wave in Iraq," Bootay said.

He signed up for Army the day after Sept. 11 and served three years. During his time in Iraq, he was exposed to a hazardous chemical, which left him disabled. The stranger who paid his bill was a Vietnam veteran.

"I said, 'Thank you very much. You didn't have to do that.' And he said, 'Oh yes I did. Thank you for your service,'" Bootay said.

It was a gesture that brought Bootay's mother to tears that day.

As it turns out, there are a lot of veterans who come to the restaurant and on any given day, someone decides to say thank you by picking up a meal.

"It's an amazing feeling that someone would do that for not just me, but my entire family," Bootay said.

While he doesn't remember the name of the man who paid his check, but he'll always remember his kindness.

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