They signed my order with a thank-you note which was a bonus.
I was picking up a takeout order at a restaurant. It was a chain place where they take your number and send you a text to let you know your order is being prepared. Then when you arrive you reply to the text with the number of your parking spot and someone brings your food to your car. That’s how it’s supposed to happen, anyway. It was a cold night and it had been raining and I wasn’t going to make some server carry a bag out to the parking lot just for me. I’d already been out in the cold and rain. So I went in and stood in the waiting area next to the kitchen where takeout orders are finalized and payments are entered.
I’d been there less than a minute when a guy in regular clothes whose gold nametag showed him to be a manager came in from the kitchen and asked, “Have you been helped yet, sir?” He was followed by a guy in a server’s uniform and a young woman in a server’s uniform carrying a bag that turned out to be my order. I stood there while the manager entered an order for the server guy. I quickly realized the server guy was checking out and getting his free shift meal, and I couldn’t help smiling because he was getting a prime rib sandwich. The restaurant where I worked many years ago had several restrictions on what you could get for your shift meal; I was glad the staff at this place could have the more expensive menu items. With steamed broccoli.
The server guy looked over at me and smiled too. “It’s like we’re all in here having this elevator moment, aren’t we?” he said.
I hadn’t thought of that but the waiting area was only slightly larger than an elevator so I said, “Yeah. And y’all all got in at the first floor because you work in the same office and I’m some schmuck who got in at the fifth floor because I’m only working a half day and I’m with a different company.”
They all laughed at that and the young woman holding my order said “I love how you just made a whole story out of that.”
The server guy’s order was finished and he and the manager went back to the kitchen, and the young woman with my order was busy entering my payment so I really didn’t get a chance to tell them that making up stories is something I do, though I surprised even myself there. Still it was a collaborative effort, only made possible because someone opened the door for me.
Thanks for sharing such a lovely moment. We need more of these in our lives, for sure❤️
mydangblog recently posted…New Year, New Disposition
Perfect pitch, Chris.