Stranger Unaware

It was a lovely Spring morning, and the manager of the Waffle House was there early, cooking breakfast, in Camden Delaware. It was his job, along with other things, that comes with managing a restuarant like this. Many people think, a manager of a restuarant does paperwork and sits in his office just handling customer complaints and managing the employees. However, not at the Waffle House, they are expected to cook, and manage the employees, and do the other managerial duties of a manager. It was an ordinary morning, and he was pouring waffle batter, putting sausage and bacon on the grill, and the aroma filled the air, with the appetizing odors that draw customers in off the highway.

A man entered the Waffle House, unnoticeably really, and approached the waitress, and asked to speak to the manager. She whispered something to the manager, who was now placing strips of bacon on the grill, and the manager quickly acknowledged the man, standing behind the cash register.

The man meekly spoke, "Do you need your floor swept this morning, in exchange for a hot meal, or any meal?" The manager asked the waitress to watch the grill for a moment, while he spoke to the man. The manager, pulled his apron aside, without speaking a word, and he stuck his hand in his pocket, and pulled out his wallet, and took some bills out of his wallet, and turned to the cash register, and rang up the man's meal. The man tried to interrupt, and said I am willing to work for that meal, and the manager, just said, "I know", and handed him a ticket, indicating a number, saying when his meal was up.

The manager returned to the grill, and continued to place sausage, bacon, and pour waffle mix, down on the grill. He was yelling out numbers for the waitresses to come get their orders and serve them to the customers. He yelled out the man's number, and the manager quickly left the grill, and took the meal over to the man, who was sitting at the counter, and quickly returned to the grill, and continued cooking.

The man finished his meal and the manager was oblivious of the man's actions as he was earnestly working on the grill, and greeting customers and all the things that a manager had to do.

The waitress, interrupted, the manager again, and said. "that man wants to talk to you again." The manager did not act annoyed, and went to the counter and approached the man sitting at the counter. The man, said, "Im sorry to bother you, but where is your broom, so I can sweep the floor, for my meal?"

The manager politely told him, "Oh I have a porter to do that for me, your good." The man replied, do you have dishes that need to be done?"

"No, I do my own dishes for the restaurant, believe it or not."

"Then what can I do for you, to pay for my meal?"

The manager said, "Well my mother always told me to pass the goodwill along, and I passed the goodwill along this morning, by buying you a hot meal, and I was glad to do so."

"Find someone and do something nice for them. You have got to take the small moments when you can get them." The man looked up at the managers name tag, and it said "Richard Jacobs, Manager".

The man said, "I will remember you far beyond this moment in time."

Two Years Later

It turns out that the man was just down on his luck, but he never forgot the kindness of the Waffle House Manager.

The man secured a job, and went in the same Waffle House, and intended to pay the kind manager back for that all important meal, when he was down and out.

He went into that same Waffle House, and asked if the manager Richard was there. They told him something that he would not soon forget, "Rick was murdered three months ago, sitting in his car, in Magnolia Delaware."

The Man Contacted Rick's Mother

The man told Rick's mother, "It was a small win for both of us, but it turned in to be so much more."

I will never forget what he said to me, "Pass The Goodwill Along."

Rick touched many lives in his short forty-four years of life, with his kindness. Many of them, not as rewarding as this, but you have to consider any win, "A Win".

Sometimes, such as this one, it turns out to be so much more.