A Modest Reward

Rachel Y., Utah, USA

One of my good friends asked me to go to our Senior Ball, and I was really excited to go with him. I wanted to look nice, and I knew I wanted to wear a modest dress. My mom and I shopped at a few stores, and I found a beautiful, modest dress that I was excited to wear.

A group of four couples had decided to go to a nice restaurant for dinner before the dance. My date and I and another couple arrived at the restaurant first. We chose to be seated at a table while we waited for the other two couples to join us.

About five minutes after we were seated, our waiter came over to our table and asked for our order. Since we were waiting for the other couples to arrive, we were not ready. Our waiter paused and said, “There is someone in this restaurant who would like to pay for your dinner, and they need to leave soon.” My mouth dropped open. The four of us were astounded. We placed our order but asked our waiter to bring our food when our entire party had ordered. After the other two couples arrived, we told them that our meal had been paid for by an anonymous patron of the restaurant.

After we ate our dinner, our waiter brought us the folder for the bill. My date picked it up and, with the other young man watching, opened it. They both looked up at each other and then looked at me and the other young woman. “This isn’t for us. It’s for you ladies,” my date said. I opened the folder and read a note that was left inside. It read, “Thanks for dressing modestly! You look great!”

We never figured out who was kind enough to pay for our dinner, but it made our dance even more memorable. I had never thought that wearing a modest dress would be noticed by anyone, but I am glad that I made the choice. Dressing modestly is a choice, and this experience made me want to continue to dress modestly.