I had a profound experience at Ikea this morning. Sophia and I went there to go buy a couch. We had already been to Ikea yesterday to pick up the couch, but after getting there we found that apparently the couch was up on one of the racks that they couldn't get to during operating hours—making this our second trip to Ikea in less than 24 hours. Sophia's dad was helping us out with his truck, much like he did the night before (when there wasn't a couch).

This time they had some of the couches we wanted on the self-serve floor and we loaded it onto two of the flat-bed carts. We glided over to one of the checkout lines and proceeded to wait for our turn at the casher.

Eventually it was our turn, and after all the items were scanned I was ready to pay. I reached for my wallet and...no wallet.

My heart sank. Not only another wasted trip for us, but another wasted trip for Sophia's dad! I fumbled around in disbelief for a few distressed moments.

"What's wrong?", I heard a voice ask. It came from the guy behind us in line.

"I forgot my wallet", I replied while fumbling around. I figured he was annoyed that I was taking so long.

"How much do you need?", he asked.

Puzzled, I answered him, "Around $700."

"I'll cover it and you can send me a check," he replied.

I was dumbstruck. There must be some catch, I thought. Or maybe I didn't hear him right. It seemed like something out of a movie, not something that happens to real people. But here I was without a wallet, and here was someone willing to help. And that's exactly what he did—he walked around the couch to the register, pulled out his American Express card and paid for it.

He handed me his drivers license so I could get his address off of it. I also wrote down my address, phone number, and email. I thanked him profusely, and we went our separate ways. His name was Stephen.

As you might imagine, this has been quite a profound experience for me. $700 is no small amount of money, and he had no way of knowing if I was even good for it. Yet he helped me anyway, and for that I am extraordinarily grateful.

The check is in the mail.

UPDATE: By the way, Stephen apparently runs the Boulder Creek Brewery in, um... Boulder Creek. If you are in the area, you should probably drop by and check it out—because it is a known fact that cool people make delicious beer. You heard it here first.