Dec 30, 2011 4 min read

“It’s been going on like this for over an hour.”

That’s what the woman my wife works with was told after she paid for the two cars behind her in the drive-thru line one morning early this week. She decided to do so after she had pulled up to the window only to discover that the car in front of her had paid for her coffee.

And so she found herself, quite unexpectedly, part of a long train of gift giving that morning. Person after person, passing it on. For over an hour, strangers were footing the bill anonymously for strangers. Looking for no recognition. Not waiting around for a pat on the back.

I have no way of knowing just how long that went on at that McDonald’s, but it’s the kind of story that puts all the silly parts of this time of year in perspective: Christmas is not about making sure to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays,” it’s not about putting those tacky blow-up snowglobe things in your yard or stores blasting the same four Christmas songs over and over again — before Thanksgiving.

No, no. Christmas is about paying for the person behind you in line at McDonald’s.

The same kind of real, unadulterated generosity has been going on at a larger level recently, as you may have heard. “Layaway Angels” have been stopping by stores and paying off the layaway purchases of complete strangers, most often at Kmart stores.

News outlets have been reporting on the altruistic phenomenon, which has seen more than 1,000 layaway accounts adding up to more than $400,000 paid for by anonymous people, according to Shannell Armstrong, public relations director for Sears Holdings Corporation, the company that owns Kmart.

“The benefactors generally ask to help families who are squirreling away items for young children. They often pay a portion of the balance, usually all but a few dollars or cents so the layaway order stays in the store’s system,” according to an NPR story on the phenomenon.

It’s really an incredible story — and one that you can’t get tired of hearing. In these angry, partisan, narcissistic and economically depressed times, isn’t it just, well, stinking great to hear that people out there are willing to help each other out? (Like, really, really great.)

The stories of these Layaway Angels almost always involve anecdotes of those whose gifts have been paid for bursting into tears of gratitude and it’s a real challenge not to have the same reaction when you read about them.

In an era when trying to look out for or help out your fellow man (or woman) will get you called a socialist or worse, it’s heartwarming that we still live in a world of good people. It’s also a reminder that while we may have gross economic inequality (that is only getting worse), you don’t have to be part of the 1 percent to find a little extra money at the end of the month that you might just spend on someone else rather than yourself.

And while Christmas might just be the time of year to bring out the best in us in this regard, there’s no reason that we have to make this a seasonal attitude. (Imagine what a better world we would live in if people realized that all of us are in this together?)

As someone who spends a good portion of December rolling my eyes at overplayed Christmas songs and being driven to distraction by completely made up controversies like the “War on Christmas” and annoyed by how little of the two-month lead up to the holiday even resembles what Christmas is supposed to be about, these Layaway Angels and other Good Samaritans are the antidote to all that has crept into Christmas that doesn’t belong there.

And what’s really great about the Layaway Angels is that it appears to be completely organic. It started with one person(s) anonymously paying for gifts in Michigan, by all accounts, and has inspired copy cats all across the country. So to whoever was the first Layaway Angel (though statistically speaking, you will never read this), thank you. That one, possibly random, act of generosity has sparked a whole lot of love. And that’s incredible.

So, the next time you find yourself at a drive-thru with a few extra dollars in your wallet, offer to pay for the Big Mac of the guy behind you.

You never know what you might start.

If you’d like to share a heartwarming Christmas story, Brandon Szuminsky can be reached at bszuminsky@heraldstandard.com.