This is New York, so I'm used to people being rude, even to a 9 1/2-month pregnant lady like myself. I've been pushed aside, bumped into, doors slammed in my face, you name it. Once in a while, people will behave like human beings and give up their seat on the subway or something. But this story goes into the history books:

I went to the doctor yesterday for my weekly check-up, and afterward I grabbed some lunch at Starbucks. All I really wanted was an iced decaf and an overpriced piece of cake, but I figured I should get a sandwich too, since the baby probably needed some protein. So I grabbed a mozzarella pesto brioche thing and waited on line.

When I got up to the cashier, the woman in front of me said, "Please use my gift card on her lunch, too." I was flabbergasted! I said that wasn't necessary and thanked her profusely, but she insisted. She said, "You have to take care of that baby, and I'd like to treat you both to lunch." The only problem was that her card had run out, so I had a $5 balance to pay, which was fine with me -- that was half of what my lunch would have normally cost! So again, I thanked the woman for her generosity and told her that she would still have good karma. But my new friend wouldn't hear of me paying, so she threw a fiver into my bag! Then she went her way and I went mine, and I smiled as I ate my lunch, wondering at the kindness of strangers.

So Thank You, thoughtful mystery lunch benefactrix! I hope your generosity comes back to you ten-fold!

That was the best iced decaf I ever had.