A kind waiter feeds a child in a wheelchair who has special needs so that her mother can finish her meal before it gets cold. He had no idea that his kindness would change his life just minutes later, and the next day would bring him another surprise.
“Madam, what do you want to drink?” Jason asked his visitor. He was almost done with his shift for the day and couldn’t wait to get home to his children. Before going to his second job at the store, he generally spent some time with them.
“Please, I’d like some Irish stew.”
“Is there anything else you’d like?”
“No thank you!”
Jason smiled and walked back to the table with his notebook. He was a waiter, so he did this for a living. He only had two hours left before starting his night shift at the store as a loader. He had just given the woman her food when a woman with a child in a wheelchair came in.
When Jason looked around, he saw that everyone else was busy serving guests. It was raining on Saturday, which was usually a busy day at the restaurant.
He went up to the woman and showed her a nearby empty seat. “This is the way, mam,” he told her. But the woman wouldn’t sit there because her daughter Kelly loved to watch it rain. She took a look around and pushed the wheelchair towards the window. From there, the street looked clean and beautiful.
Jason was happy. “Ma’am, may I take your order? What are you looking for?”
Don’t be afraid to be kind to other people. You might never know how good and satisfying it can be.
The woman and her daughter began to talk about what was on the menu. Mindy, the child’s mother, looked up at Jason and said, “Chicken noodle soup and chicken and rice casserole, and two cupcakes, please.” The child laughed.
Jason came back and put their orders on the table. He moved away from his seat to help the other guests. When he returned, he saw that Mindy still hadn’t started eating. She was busy feeding her daughter, who had trouble eating on her own, with a spoon.
Jason watched as Mindy fed her baby even though her own food was going cold. He wanted to help, so he went over to their table.
“Sorry, ma’am…Could I be of some help?” He wanted to know. “I see that you still haven’t eaten anything. Please eat your food and let me help you feed your child.”
Mindy was confused, but she gave a smile. “How will he feed my daughter?” “Why doesn’t Kelly ever eat from strangers?” she asked. Jason took the spoon from her and started to feed the girl.
“The weather is nice. “If I could, I’d play and dance all day in the rain!” he told the girl, who laughed.
She asked Jason, “You know how to dance?”
He laughed and said, “Yes, little, little.”
Kelly ate well, and Mindy was impressed. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing when she saw that her daughter never ate without throwing a fit. But things were different that day. Mindy thought it was too strange that she behaved and ate from a stranger’s hand.
She asked Jason, “How do you handle kids so well?”
He smiled and said, “I didn’t know how to deal with children until I had my own. I thought that being a parent was hard, but it has taught me a lot about how to deal with kids.
Mindy was shocked and kept listening as the waiter told her about the kids he took care of every day…
“This summer, my wife and I had triplets. I started helping her take care of the kids and slowly learned everything. Even changing their diapers is easy for me. But even with two jobs, it’s hard for them to get all the things they need these days.
“Oh, right! But how did you learn to deal with other people’s kids, especially kids with special needs like mine?” Mindy, wanting to know more, asked.
“Every kid is unique in his or her own way. Just pay attention to them and make them feel loved and not trapped. You should show who you are through your friendly actions…Like when you feed a child, you don’t make them eat. You need to start slowly and get them to where they feel most comfortable. And before you knew it, half of the plate would be gone!”
Mindy was too much for her. Soon, she and Kelly had finished eating, and they thanked Jason for helping. She didn’t look back as she left the restaurant. She was in a hurry because she had to go to the airport to pick up her husband.
Jason sighed and went back to the table to clean it up. When he looked under the plate, he saw an envelope.
He picked it up and took a cheque out of it. “A cheque for $10,000?” he said with a gasp. “It must have slipped her mind. It must be for the care of her daughter. I have to find her right away and give it back to her.”
Jason went outside to look for Mindy and Kelly but couldn’t see them anymore. When he looked at the bill for a while, he saw his name on it.
“Oh, God…”I can’t believe it!” When he saw that Mindy had left him the cheque, it made him cry. He turned the package over and saw a note that said, “This is for your lovely wife and children.” “Thank you for being such a caring father and husband!”
He thought, “This is such a big tip!”
Jason went home after his job at the restaurant to tell his wife the good news. He didn’t know that the next day would bring another surprise.
Jason was getting ready to go to work the next morning when a delivery van stopped in front of his house. A man got out of his car and put a dozen boxes on his front porch.
“You get these, sir. It’s already been paid for!”
When Jason opened the boxes, he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a year’s worth of diapers stacked in them. He found the note in one of the boxes and took it out. “I wrote down your address from the restaurant,” it said. I hope that’s helpful. I’m sending hugs and kisses to your kids. “Dear Mom, I met you at the restaurant.
Jason cried tears of happiness and gave his wife and children hugs. He was as happy as could be.
Mindy and Kelly hadn’t been to the restaurant where Jason worked in two months. Even though he never saw them again, he learned something important: Never be afraid to be kind to other people. You might never know how good and satisfying it can be.
What does this story teach us?
Even when we are having a hard time, we must be kind to others. Jason went back and forth between two jobs so he could support his family. He had a lot of trouble but never stopped being kind to others. He offered to feed a child with special needs at the restaurant where he worked so that the child’s mother could finish eating.
If you do something nice for someone, good things will happen to you. Jason fed Mindy’s daughter so she could eat and enjoy her food. He was honoured for his kindness by getting $10,000 and a year’s worth of diapers for his babies the next day.
