Megan King was pulling a double shift at her waitressing job last Sunday, and was halfway though it, when the customer was seated.
A quiet, elder woman.
As Megan told Newsweek, “She came in about halfway through my 17-hour shift, and it was on Sunday, which is always pretty busy.
About halfway through her meal, it started to slow down so we chatted for a few minutes. Small talk, nothing too deep. She told me she was almost 70… and she just wanted to stop by an old favorite for a bite.”
With her $3.00 tip on the $11.00 check, she left a little note.
‘Thank you very much for your kind service. This was my first time eating out alone since my husband passed. I was hoping I could get through it.’
As she ate, King noticed that the woman seemed quiet, contemplative and calm. Megan assumed there might be something wrong with the food, but in hindsight, she wished she had been more alert to her charge.
“I wish I had taken it quietly as an invitation.
I think that’s what she wanted, looking back… I guess she did, in a way. She needed an ear.”
She was so filled with reflection and emotion, she started to cry and had to go the staff bathroom to pull it together.
As many in her generation, she took to twitter.
With two words.
Just a gentle reminder…..please be kind.
To those around you.
To yourself.
We’re all veterans of a long and protracted and exhausting battle.
Kindness.
Understanding.
A little tenderness.