I know that the present sense of paying it forward is real. I took a group of Barrio teen guys to
IHOP to listen to one of our incredible guy interns, Ricky. As we’re walking into IHOP there was
a 50-year-old woman who was gracious to hold open the door for the guys. I was rather
impressed, shocked that this ‘White Lady’ would hold the door for a bunch of ‘Black’ teens. I
thanked her and joked about something like age before beauty but big thanks for her
friendliness.
It was an incredible morning as I shared the purpose of the group and sensed the guys were
excited to be together. Ricky, my intern, took over and shared his story. It was rather intense
about growing up in San Luis, across the border. His parent’s issues from drug addiction to his
dad being a pimp. The real story was Ricky was a ‘superstar’ in school. Yeap, he took AP
Calculus in high school and ended up getting a full ride to ASU including dorms and food. His
passion is to see our guys do more than exist in life.
As we’re enjoying pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage and great conversation, the server,
Francisco, tells me that this lady around the corner is going to pay for our breakfast! I’m taken
back, this is a $200 bill. I’m humbled and a little surprised that this lady who held open the door
for our group is the ultimate pay it forward person.
I wasn’t able to catch up with her before she left to say a big thanks. Now, my quest is to find
this Christine Newman on social media or back at the IHOP.