Haley Joel Osment in the wonderful 'Pay it Forward' film, demonstrating how this whole thing works...

An amazing thing happened to me yesterday. Calli, Tristin, and I were hanging out while my wife had to go to the doctor for a post-pregnancy checkup.

We wound up going to WalMart and Calli was being absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen such a sweet, well-behaved little girl! So I decided I’d treat her to a $5-$6 toy. Nothing too extravagant, but something to thank her for being so good.

We’re in what I call the pink aisle. You know, the one with Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake, Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony, and anything else that comes in a pink box. She said, ‘Daddy I want that one!’ about everything $20 and up. I said a couple of times, ‘Calli, I’m not trying to spend a lot of money.’ It truly wasn’t about the money, it was more about getting her not to want a $20 toy every time we step into a WalMart.

Another customer must have heard me, because she walked by and said, ‘Here,’ slipping something between the cart handle and my hand, ‘maybe this’ll help Daddy out.’

Not even looking, I tried to hand it back, ‘I really don’t need your money!’ I said, both astonished and embarrassed.

‘No.’ she said, backing away. ‘Buy her something.’ and she vanished faster than homemade rolls on Thanksgiving.

I looked down at my hand and got dizzy.

There was a twenty dollar bill staring up at me from my palm.

She had a kid in her cart, too. Not to pass judgment, but she didn’t look any more well off than me. (Though looks can be very deceiving in ski country.)

In this economy, I felt horrible excepting some kind of handout from a complete stranger.

But Calli and I picked out two My Little Ponies, and spent the $20 well.

So here’s what I want to do: Since I can’t pay that nice lady back, I would like to pay this random act of kindness forward.

I’m going to give a $20 WalMart gift card away here on my blog.

What You Have To Do:

Basic blog giveaway stuff, you get one entry per item below:

1. Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post.

2. Comment below how you would spend the $20.

3. Include in your comment how you would then pay this good deed forward. (Hint: This does not have to be monetary in nature, get more creative than I did!)

Earn 5 entries if you blog about Random Acts of Kindness or Paying it Forward, and include a link back to this blog. Be sure to comment here to let me know about your post!

I will use random.org to determine the winner. The deadline to enter will be Friday, November 13 (lucky, huh?) at midnight.

If you include your twitter handle in your entries I will

a) follow you for life, and

b) notify you by email and twitter DM if you win! (Another pay it forward, since I recently won a giveaway from Coupon Dad, and missed the email. He DM’ed me to let me know so I wouldn’t miss out on my prize! Thanks again, Coupon Dad!)

Incidentally, the WalMart gift card can come in two forms:

1) The eGift Card Instant gratification! You’ll receive the card through your email in 24-48 hours of winning. This card can be used at walmart.com only. If you choose ‘site to store’ as your shipping option, none of your gift card’s balance will go to shipping! You’ll simply pick up your merchandise at your local store when it arrives.

2) Snail Mail This will take a little longer to receive your winnings, but you’ll be able to use the card at any WalMart store.

For the FTC’s consideration: This giveaway is in no way endorsed or supported by WalMart. I simply chose a WalMart gift card because that is where the above related random act of kindness took place. The money is my own hard-earned cash that I am using to help spread a little holiday cheer…