Last weekend my husband, daughter and myself traveled to Winnemucca from Alturas, Calif., to participate in the ACTRA State finals. This drive that normally only takes about four hours turned into an all-day endeavor. We left at 7:30 a.m. Saturday thinking we'd be there by noon and in plenty of time to rope that afternoon. After two blown tires and the time it took to drive back to a tire store to get replacements, we didn't end up arriving in Winnemucca until 5:30 p.m. This meant we missed the roping Saturday but knew we could still rope in Sunday's roping.
We decided we weren't gonna let it bug us too much and chose to go have a great meal at The Martin. With their community seating we sat with a pleasant gentleman that said he was from Winnemucca. Throughout the meal we all chit chatted and he of course got the pleasure of hearing our long day's story, which really was sort of a comedy of errors and could have ended up so much worse than it did. When we all finished our meals this gentleman stood up to leave but took the time to shake all of our hands and introduce himself as Tony. After he left we waited a few minutes for the waitress to bring our check and instead she stopped by and said with a smile that our bill had been taken care of. As it turned out, Tony paid for not only his meal but our three also. This was such a shock to us not only because of what a thoughtful act it was but in the way he did it. We had no idea he did it until he had already left, not looking for a thank you or recognition.
This was such a totally unselfish act by a total stranger and I really feel it needed to be posted in your local paper. It's people like our new friend Tony that really make an impact on others with their kindness. If you are reading this Tony, thank you very much from the Gibbons family. We will be sure to pass this type of kindness on ourselves in a "pay it forward" sort of way. You are an inspiration.
Byron, Susan and Hannah Gibbons are residents of Alturas, Calif.
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