Jeeze, I almost got "Myrna-Loyed" again! That was a wonderful story.
Commander Benson wrote:
The point of the story, my friend, is---buying you that cane, for no other reason than to do something nice for someone, probably made that old man feel as good as you felt getting it. But then, you're probably already ahead of me, there.

Honestly, no, that hadn't ever occurred to me. Perhaps the nuances of the actual event were different from what I remember, but I do not recall it as a warm & fuzzy moment.

I don't know if there were other customers around at the time or if the cashier was the only witness, but as I said, he asked loudly, “Do you watch Bat Masterson, young man?” Later, I would wonder if he was attracting an audience.

He didn't seem to care about my thoughts on Bat Masterson, because when I started to reply, “Well, not really, I. . .” he cut me off with what I called a "flourish", picked up the cane, held it high above his head for everyone to see, and told the girl to put it on his account. OK, maybe he beat a hasty retreat to avoid being embarrassed by a "thank you," but I imagine him striding away while basking in the glow of onlookers' admiring smiles for being such a selfless fellow.

I pretty much decided that he was more interested in making himself feel good than doing something nice for someone else.

Perhaps I should have seen this as one of life's uplifting anecdotes, as your restaurant story truly was, but all i got out of it was the “Out of all this great stuff, he gives me a crappy Bat Masterson cane?!?!” moment, and a great story to tell.