Melting Hearts, Not Ice Creams
I got my first job nearly ten years ago at age sixteen, working at a local fast-food joint famous for its flippable blended ice cream desserts. I earned a fair share of stories from my time as a crewmember, and a couple more as a team lead, but my first day as a working citizen will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart.
It’s Mother’s Day at 11:15; we’ve just opened for the day. I’ve already served my first two customers, an elderly couple who come in every day for the $5 lunch special. The manager training me continues to go over details about morning prep when we see another customer arriving.
Manager: “How do you feel about taking the next order on your own?”
Me: *Shrugs.* “Should be fine, I suppose.”
Manager: “I won’t be far, holler if you need me.”
[Manager] disappears around the corner behind me. In comes a lone woman holding a bouquet of fake roses.
Me: “Welcome to [fast food joint], how are we doing today?”
Customer: “Doing just fantastic today, and yourself?”
Me: “Starting my first day of work and I’m pretty pumped!” *Smiles.* “Will you be eating in or taking things to go today?”
I asked so I may begin the order process and tap one of my POS buttons.
Customer: *Smiles brightly at me.* “No, dear, I’m actually here simply to drop off a rose for every woman on staff today for Mother’s Day.”
Me: *Immediately attempting not to shed a tear at her offer.* “Whoa, that’s awesome! Let me check with my manager how many women we’ll have on shift today.”
Manager: *Already coming around the corner, grinning.* “Ma’am, that is so generous of you!”
My manager gives the count of women expected for the day, including herself.
Customer: *Handing over roses.* “Here you go, dearies. I think it’s important that every woman gets recognition on Mother’s Day. Not everyone has a good mother growing up, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be a s***ty day.”
Manager: *Wiping a tear away with her free hand.* “Well, thank you for that. I’ll make sure these get around at shift change.”
Customer: *Already headed for the door.* “Alright, hun, thank you. You all take care now.” *Looks back at me before stepping out of the building.* “Good luck, young man.” *Smiles and takes her leave.*
Me: “So who was that?”
I figured that, like with the two older customers, she maybe knew this woman’s name.
Manager: *Sets the roses on our cake prep counter and turns to me.* “I have literally never seen that woman before in my life, and this isn’t my first Mother’s Day working.”
We both look out the windows to watch her car depart.
Manager: “Don’t get used to that. Most of them are fine, occasionally you’ll get an interaction like that, and sometimes you’ll get your job threatened for forgetting to add a condiment to a burger.”
Me: *Raises an eyebrow.*
Manager: “Welcome to fast food.”
