I took the girls miniature golfing tonight and called Dan on our way home and asked him if he wanted to meet us at Rita's for dessert. We ordered, then he took them outside with their treats to sit in the back of his truck while I waited for his and mine.
The man next to me bought dessert for his two granddaughters and his credit card was declined. He went out to his car to look for an alternate way to pay and the two girls started eating at the counter. When he came back in, he was very apologetic but he had no other way to pay so they had to leave. Without their food.
As soon as he started to apologize, I thought "I should just pay for it. They've already started eating. This is breaking my heart." Then I thought "What if he gets insulted? What if I offend him? What if he's embarassed? I could make this worse." Then I thought "Oh, what's another $6.00? Speak up, Kathleen....say something!"
In the end I didn't. And I've felt lousy about it ever since. I must be PMSing.
I've done that once or twice. Mostly it was just to hurry the asshole along though.
I really think any good proprietor would say "that's all right, we'll get you next time", though. I mean, can you imagine any other way to get a more loyal customer? It's cheaper than running stupid coupons.
I agree, Ginny. I mean it's not like the owner could re-sell the food they'd already started eating... why not just take his information and let him go?
And Kathleen - don't feel badly. You'll do it next time.
I know right? It's the difference between "that place was really nice to me when I was in a tough spot" vs. "that place I would be embarrassed to go back to". Besides the fact, who says "ok kids, give us back the ice cream cone and no one gets hurt".
We were in line for Harry Potter this weekend, got there early for a good seat. (like an hour early. I have a whole movie theatre watching military regime, more of that later) There was an elderly lady standing behind us who had gotten there early as well. Since we had an hour to spare until they were going to let us in, we fell into conversation about how expensive movies are these days and how the snack bar is a complete rip off. It was apparent the lady was there by herself, had to be in her late 70's or 80's. So my friend asks me what I'd like from the snack bar, and I say just a diet coke and some popcorn. So he goes to get the goods, and the lady makes a comment that she remembers when candy was .25 & .50 cents back in the day, but these days it was $3.75 for M&M's. She looked sad and I felt bad for her.
So we finally get into the theater and we find our seats. I saw the lady sitting by herself down in front of us, so I went to the snack bar and bought her a bag of M&M's. I came back and gave them to her and I thought she was going to cry. She offered to pay for them and I told her "no, just enjoy the movie".
That was my random act of kindness. I almost thought about not doing it, but it was just candy, and I think it made her happy.
I've purchased pet food for people who come in trying to buy one single can of cat food with dimes and nickels. One guy in particular was counting pennies out of a jar, just to buy 2 cans of Alpo. I bought him a case of 12 cans, and a squeaky hedgehog toy. There's something special about people who put their pets before themselves in the darkest of times.
I don't give a shite 'cause I got my Guinness Stout!
OK. Fine, I was trying to resist buy my strength is low.
Here's mine. Maybe I have told it before. I'm not looking for kudos.
I was ASS. MAN. at a popular pizza gig. I had a man and his son come in and insist that we had gotten their order wrong the day before. We (the company) had a policy to look up their order ticket, demand some proof and then replace the order - DO NOT REFUND THE MONEY.
This man was insisting I refund his money.
I went through EVERY ticket from the day before and not one of them matched his order. He stood there while I surveyed the entire days tickets. It must have been like waiting for the lottery for him.
I could not find this mans ticket. So as ASS MAN I offered to recreate the order for him. He complied and took the freshly baked pizza pies home.
The next evening he came in, with his son, and thanked me. He told me that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and had lost his job. He and his family were living in the nearby forest, (Oregon remember, forest is always nearby). He was desperate. He was not trying to steal, they were just hungry.
I told him to come back at closing and he could take our left overs. Meanwhile I happened to know a case worker (we employed people with disabilities) and she pursued the case. Turns out he was legitimate and I accidentally helped his family out.
I could have been a cold hearted ass hole.
sigh.
This message has been edited by BiderSpite on Jul 21, 2009 11:39 PM
Twelve hours later and I'm still kicking myself a little.
After the man and the girls left, the kid who was waiting on them asked his co-worker what he should do with their food. She shrugged and said "Throw it out, I guess." The kid who waited on them was maybe 16 or 17. I don't know if it occured to him that it wouldn't have been a big deal to let them just have it.
A mother with two kids in baseball uniforms was $2 short at Brusters. My nephews and I were behind her in line and watched her struggle. I gave her the money and waved away her thanks. She rushed home and came back with the money.
Kathleen, look at it as a learning experience, next time you wont doubt your instinct.
My sister was at Applebys with her family. They were seated, placed their order, and ate their meal.
When it was time for the check, the waitress approached acting strangely. Finally, full of smiles, she stammered out that a gentleman in the restaurant had picked up the checks (AND TIPS) for the ENTIRE RESTAURANT.
Of course, my sister was floored and wanted to thank him. The waitress indicated he wished to remain anonymous but head tilted towards a table where a man, his wife, and young child were seated - the anonymous bearer of random gifts of kindness.
My sister wanted so much to go over and thank them in person, but also wanted to respect his wishes, so she didn't. But she will never ever forget.
I'm impressed by the ability to distinguish between McAppleFriday's. How about some jalepeno poppers or pizza shooters? (shoots finger guns at you) Not a big fan, sorry.
We have a Friday's close by, it's good for going out to lunch with a group of co-workers because there will always be some whiney baby who (cough*docz*cough*) is picky and everyone can find something to eat there.
But I still try and talk them into Jerry's Famous Deli instead.
I can deal with Friday's. Definitely. Back in CT, my town had an Applebee's, Friday's, Ruby Tuesday's, Chili's, 99's, Outback and a Hop's. It was the Mecca of chains. I liked Ruby's and Applebee's best.
ETA: Apostrophes and Outback.
This message has been edited by Dr.Zhivago on Jul 22, 2009 12:42 PM
I don't know, I live pretty close to Disneyland- which means chain restaurant central. I might give you a run for the money. I think there are at least 5 Denny's within a 3 mile radius.
Ginny - my sister picked Fridays as the place she wanted to go for lunch on her birthday last month. My dad tried to get her to switch to Jerry's. LOL!
I don't give a shite 'cause I got my Guinness Stout!
Every time I've eaten at one of those chains, my body felt like I could have just asked for 8 ounces of their fryolater grease to guzzle and gotten the same experience for 23 cents.
That's a shame Kathleen. The fact that you feel bad about it says your a good person. Did your kids see this? If so you should tell them how you're feeling about it. That way, even though they didn't see you help that man, they can still learn from it.
The welfare thread reminded me... like a year or two ago I was in the grocery store behind a family, a mom and a dad with two small kids. The kids asked if they could buy a candy bar and the dad said no. A lot of other kids would have whined and cried or thrown a fit but these just looked dissapointed and moved down the line out of the way. So I'm standing there waiting for my turn and notice they are 3/a buck so I grab three and throw them in with my stuff. There was some problem, because the parents were paying with food stamps and finally the checker asked them to move down and wait while she checked me out because it was taking so long. They weren't dressed like bums but they weren't overdressed or wearing bling or anything either. They were buying the standard WIC stuff - beans, rice, peanut butter, milk.
Anyway, after the lady checked me out I gave the candy bars to the kids. (Well, actually I have them to the parents and said they were for the kids). Those kids were remarkably well behaved for having to stand around in a grocery store line and I think they deserved a candy bar. And the parents just said "oh that's so nice, thanks". It was a nice moment.
back in 1999, during the war in former Yugoslavia, my city accepted 500 refugees and they were being housed in motels (no Hiltons mind you) until they could be integrated into homes. I'd watched their plight on the news for months and couldn't bear to watch these people being forced to do the unimaginable and be forced to leave and walk for days to seek assylum in neighbouring countries and then once their their temp housing conditions were still horrific.
Upon hearing of their arrival in town and watching how overwhelmed settlement and organization staff were, and how health issues, food and shelter were being addressed, the children seemed to look vacant and empty.
Couldn't bear it. I had a mission to pack up as much of used clothing, adult and children's as I could, packed up games, books and toys for the kids. They might not understand the language but they had pictures.
We arrived, not really knowing if we would be turned away due to security issues. We entered the motel area and it was stunning. These people were just sitting expressionless, looking at us like we were in a fishbowl for driving in. Shell shocked, confused, overwhelmed, in a daze.
I spoke to an official dealing with paperwork and she said they would gratefully accept the items. We unloaded the car, with a few dozen around us, mostly kids. Looking very much like they had on the news, dishevelled, hair looked like it had been washed the year prior. Again vacant stares, likely some fear but they were curious.
I asked if I could speak with anyone who had a little English knowledge and a young man around 20 came out of the office. Through broken English he explained how he was forced from his home and walked to Macedonia. His dad had run a bank. He did not know where his father was, he figured he had been killed. He did not know if he would return once the war ended.
It still fills me with sadness to recall these people who suddenly lost their past....homes destroyed, loved ones, alliances and now they found themselves on the other side of the world, unable to speak English and unsure of their future or if they would even settle in Canada or go back.
Bittersweet moment for me, happy to help, sad at their journey ahead of them
![[linked image]](http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/ginnyesq/frank-costanza1.jpg)
