Eslam Mohamed and his family went to an Olive Garden in Georgia on Christmas Eve, and when he asked for the check for his table of 12, he received a receipt with the message, "Paid. Merry Christmas Beautiful Family" written across it. Turns out that an anonymous customer, who embodied the true spirit of the holidays, had already paid for the Muslim family's meal.
Mohamed, who lives in Augusta, shared the encounter on Facebook Dec. 25, according to the Daily Mail.
"Yesterday I went to Olive Garden restaurant to have dinner with nice families. We were a group of 7 adults and 5 children," he wrote in the post.
He continued: "Everyone in the restaurant was knowing that we were Arabs Muslims on the table coz [sic] of the language and the ladies were having scarves over their head ( Hijab ). After finishing we asked for the receipts and the waitress came to us with that receipt in the picture. Yes, someone paid for us and wrote those wonderful words on the receipt."
Mohamed noted that it was great to have this experience, since the climate surrounding Muslims has been largely negative of late, with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump proposing a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
"I can't express how this act touched our hearts. Among all the bad things happening to Muslims and the hate speech that the presidential candidate had made lately, there is still light in the dark, there is still hope within the frustration," he wrote on his Facebook page.
"All what i can say to who did that, Merry Christmas to you too and God bless such a beautiful heart you have," he continued.
Since he posted the note on his page, the story has gone viral, with thousands of messages and more than 19,000 shares.
Read more at the Daily Mail.