Kind Canadian stranger 'pays it forward' and picks up tab for Edinburgh locals at O'Connor's bar in Canonmills

A mysterious Canadian man decided to ‘pay it forward’ with an act of goodwill last Friday, when he payed for the bills of two tables in O’Connors, an Irish pub in Canonmills.

One individual who was the recipient of the Canadian’s kind act, Ben Nixon, posted on LinkedIn about the experience.

Nixon said that, when he tried to pay the bill, a barmaid told him that a Canadian man had already paid for them “as a gesture of goodwill”.

Nixon was told that the man had asked the bar staff to tell him who had been the kindest table that night, and had then offered to pay the tab for them.

A visiting Canadian picked up the tab for several Edinburgh locals in a gesture of goodwill.

Nixon wrote: “We were told our new Canadian friend wished to remain anonymous and left us a simple message, "pay it forward"...

“You'd best believe the next time we go out we'll be making some pals who'll be enjoying some drinks on us”.

Elaine O’Connor, owner of O’Connor’s, explained that the man actually payed for two tables’ tabs that evening.

She said: “He happened to be in the bar that night, and he wanted to pay it forward”.

O’Connor got speaking to the charitable Canadian, who she described as a “good guy”. He told her he was a policeman visiting Edinburgh for the night. He also talked to her about an anti-bullying campaign that he runs in Canada.

She also said that one of the tables whose tab was picked up returned to the bar the very next night to pay for someone else’s table.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.