Last Friday was just one of those days. A crazy day at work. A meeting after and when I finally got home instead of looking forward to going out with my handsome husband on our newly reinstated date night, what do I do but fall asleep in the chair. Oh yeah, I'm a wild woman with the stamina of a teenager. Michael finally manages to wake me up and we head out. I was surprised that he was taking the lead. Usually I am the unofficial date night coordinator. Ah but tonight he had a plan to do something different. Things were looking up. Different is good.
We head up to New Bern to get some ice cream. The only trouble was it was the night of the art walk which meant that it was really busy downtown. The only parking we could find was several blocks away and I am wearing those cute, not made for walking heels. I told him that walking just wasn't in the cards, so hello plan B. We head out of town away from the crowds to the Dairy Queen. Great I thought, he can get an ice cream and I can get something simple and quick to eat like a hot dog, after all I was starving. Michael orders his ice cream and the guy tells me politely that they don't serve food, only ice cream. Strike two. I said "Ok, I just want to go home and eat." Michael was not ready to give up just yet. "No," he says "let's try one more place" and he whips our little car into a Sonic.
I love Sonic mostly because of the car hops. I feel like I'm back in the fifties or something. You remember the car hops. They are the servers that use to wear roller skates but now most of them just walk. The cost of liability insurance must have put an end to the skaters I guess. Anyway we pull up and place an order, a hotdog, a bottled water, tater tots and a chicken wrap. (Michael orders the chicken wrap. Felt guilty after the ice cream.) The lady that waited on us was the best. She was cheerful, kind and professional. Michael paid her and tipped her two bucks. We sat there in our parked car with the windows down, eating and chatting and listening to this great lady do her job. She spent the same amount of time and had the same fantastic attitude with every customer. It did not matter whether these patrons were arriving in junky no-way-I-get-a-tip-from-that-car vehicles or whether they were loud, boisterous teenagers that could not be bothered to tip at all. It did not matter, everybody got her best. She hustled, she smiled, she was simply a joy to watch. She was whipping around there like a crazy lady but I could tell she was tired. She would rest a little, just a little mind you, at each car window to catch a breather. She was not the youngest car hop working that night but she was putting her junior colleagues to shame.
After awhile Michael and I got quiet and then we looked at each and said "You know, this is a great chance to pay it forward." Yeah, lets give this lady a decent tip. I called her back over to the window and told her what a fantastic job she was doing. "I know how hard it is to work in a busy restaurant on a Friday night. I, we, have done your job and I must say I don't think I have ever seen anyone do it better!" I looked her in the eye, grabbed her hand and placed two five dollar bills in it. "This isn't much, just ten dollars" I said, "but I want you to have it. I just want you to have a good tip tonight. I wish it could be more." She smiled a big, beautiful, genuine smile and told me that ten dollars was the best tip she got all day and it was a lot, to her. She was grateful for the money and the compliment. Michael and I both laughed as we watched her skip, yes I said skip, back into the restaurant. Michael looked at me and said "I thought I would never be able to right this ship tonight but hey, this turned out ok after all. We should do this every Friday!" Maybe we will darlin', maybe we will. :)
Laurie
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