(I’m with my wife at a well-known fast food place, and they employ a young man with special needs who we both know and are very friendly with. An angry customer accosts him at the register.)
Customer: “S***, they’re taking so f****** long with my food!”
Employee: “Just a sec, sir…”
Customer: “You’d better!”
(Not three minutes later, the employee comes with the customer’s food.)
Employee: “Here you go, sir.”
Customer: “Where’s the f****** ranch?”
Employee: “Right away, sir!”
Customer: “No, forget it! You’ll probably slobber all over it!”
Wife: “Excuse me, sir, but this young man is doing his job. He’s not doing anything to hurt you, so how about you shut the f*** up!”
Customer: “F*** you, fat a**!”
Employee: “She’s a nice lady! There’s a baby inside her, and she’s not fat!”
Customer: “F*** you!” *storms out, upsetting some chairs*
Wife: *to the employee* “People are so mean to you, honey. I’m so sorry, I can’t believe he said that to you, that a**hole!”
Employee:*grinning* “Don’t worry about it, Jesus and my mama still love me!” *walks away, the happiest man on earth*
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(I work at a movie theater. It’s a Monday morning and I’m serving a young man in line.)
Customer: “Do you offer military discounts?”
Me: “The current policy is that we do not offer military discounts on weekdays, but we do on weekends. Since weekday prices are already so much cheaper, especially for matinees, we really can’t add additional discounts on top of it.”
Customer:*firmly* “Well, lemme ask you this: do you believe the minimum wage should be raised?”
Me:*confused* “Um… well, yes. Yes, I do. A little over $8 an hour is hard to live off of, especially in this economy.”
Customer: “Well, that’s bulls***. You don’t deserve more money. I just got back from being stationed in Iraq. How about you? I fought for your freedom, kid. The same freedom that you’re exercising now to tell me that my sacrifices won’t even get me a discount! You minimum wage drones don’t deserve more money.”
Me:*absolutely shocked* “I’m… I’m sorry, sir. I truly thank you for your service…”
Customer: “I want you to know I have no respect for you whatsoever. You obviously weren’t in the military, and you don’t understand the meaning of sacrifice. It’s unbelievable that after I chose to fight for your freedom, you deny me the basic dignity of recognition with a discount. Do you understand that I don’t respect you?”
Me: “I… I guess?”
Customer: “No, you tell me that you absolutely understand that I don’t respect you.”
Me:*going pale* “I understand.”
Customer: “Good.”
(He buys his tickets and goes into the theater. I’m left shocked by the exchange. An older man who was behind him in line approaches me. He gives me a warm smile.)
Old Man: “Wow. I’m sorry you had to put up with that. You know… I was in the military. Fought in Vietnam. Put up with a lot in my life. But I want to tell you… I thank YOU for YOUR service. And I have nothing but respect for you and every other person out there trying to make ends meet while being a good employee, despite dealing with a low minimum wage. Not everyone is cut out to be a soldier. But that doesn’t mean jerks like him are better than you. People like you… doing your hardest and trying to make ends meet, all while having to put up with the self-righteous people like that… you deserve as much admiration as anyone else. This world needs people of all types. We’re all in this together. We’re all heroes in our own way. So thank you. Because of you, I get to have a nice day seeing movies. You’re helping to give me happiness for a few hours. And that means a lot.”
(I was almost crying for the rest of the day. Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity after the last person nearly destroyed it!)
(I am a bookseller working toward a teaching credential. While I am not exactly poor, my pay is not stellar, and it is occasionally a stretch for me to manage loans and bills. While walking home from work, I see a middle-aged man asking for money on the corner. He appears to be a veteran. I scrounge around in my purse for change and only find a penny, but I walk up to him, anyway.)
Me: “Hey. I’m one of those jerks who doesn’t carry a lot of cash. So, this is all I have. I hope it helps.”
(I press the penny into the palm of the veteran’s hand. He looks at me. When he speaks, I can tell that he’s not all there, but he sounds genuine.)
Veteran: “You know what? If that’s all you have, then take this.”
(To my amazement, he presses a one-dollar bill into my palm. I shake my head and try to give it back to him.)
Me: “No. You need it more than I do.”
Veteran: “You know what? Take it. I was in the Marines. And my job was to protect this country. And help poor people.”
(Overcome with emotion, I impulsively salute at the veteran. He immediately snaps into a military salute in response. I thank him and start walking again, and he calls after me.)
Veteran: “Hey! Don’t you be spending that on alcohol, now!”
Me: “I won’t, sir!”
(True to my word, I converted the dollar into quarters for laundry, which I desperately needed to do. It really goes to show how some people, even in their greatest hours of need, will still go out of their way to help others out. Wherever you are now, sir, thank you – and to everyone else, please remember to support your troops, since many of them, after the fight, will need all the love they can get.)
