People should be treated with kindness and respect. It’s a simple and direct first lesson for everyone.
But every now and then, people need a gentle reminder that respect is expected in all situations. Respect has an impact on someone’s level of engagement, happiness, and productivity.
Since respect can mean different things to different people, different people interpret situations differently. For some, there are clear rules, a specific language, and a set of actions that signify different degrees of respect. Respect is the act of recognizing and valuing another person for themselves.
For instance, many of us learned to respect elders’ authority, use “Mr.” or “Mrs.” when addressing teachers and other adults, and perhaps be silent until spoken to. Others were instructed to always be truthful in their opinions and criticism, to never denigrate anyone, and to always use a person’s first name. Both might be considered “showing respect.”
Outback Workers, on the other hand, pay for their customers’ meals as a sign of respect.
We all know that becoming a police officer is no easy task. It involves perseverance, numerous training sessions, passion, and a genuine desire to assist people.
Work that is both physically taxing and highly challenging, not only that you will engage in physically demanding activities but also manage all kinds of emergencies, including life-threatening ones that make it as one dangerous, physically challenging, and can be mentally exhausting—and these workers, know-how hard-working it is, that is why they decided to give them a token for their great job.
After a long, exhausting shift, four Louisiana police officers made the decision to eat dinner at their neighborhood Outback Steakhouse. But what they were unaware of was the surprise waiting for them after their meal.
According to Fox8, the incident happened at the Outback Steakhouse in Slidell, Louisiana, where four on-duty neighborhood police officers went for a post-work meal.
Everything went according to plan and everything was as usual.
The officers’ meal was served as it should have been, and nothing else particularly stood out about the evening until they saw their receipt and discovered a huge surprise.
Zoë Rao, who is a waitress at the Outback Steakhouse where the officers ate said, “They’re the sweetest guys, I enjoy waiting on them.”
However, what happened next drew lots of attention on social media.
Manager Arline Wood, an 18-year veteran of the company, saw the officers come in and recognized them as regulars at the restaurant. She and waitress Zoë Rao devised a plan together.
The officers couldn’t believe what they saw on their receipt when it came time to pay the $67 tab, but they soon realized it was on the house.
Along with the server and manager picking up their tab, a sincere note thanking them for their community service was also written on the ticket.
The note started at the very top of the receipt that goes, “Be safe!” and further down it said, “Thank y’all for y’all’s service! Enjoy y’all’s meal on us!”
Arline Wood said, “They care about the community. They care about everybody. They’re just great guys. Our whole police force is great and these guys at night, I went to Zoë and I said, let’s take care of it.”
To show their gratitude, the officers reportedly left a hefty tip to show their own gratitude.
Later, the Slidell Police Department posted a photo of the receipt to their Facebook page as a way to honor the two Outback Steakhouse staff members. It quickly went viral.
But that wasn’t at all what Zoë Rao or Arline Wood wanted. They did not want their admirable performance to be seen by the public. Wood admitted that the publicity was a bit too much to handle when questioned about it later.
“I got a phone call early in the morning and I was like what are you talking about?” Wood recalled. “People were calling me and then we saw it on Facebook, then it’s on this one and that one, and we didn’t do it for this publicity, because Lord knows I don’t like all this publicity.”
Arline and Zoë hope their simple act will encourage others to do something to thank those who put their lives on the line daily to protect us.
Kudos to these women for setting a wonderful example of how to express gratitude to our law enforcement personnel, who selflessly risk their lives every day to fight crime so that we don’t have to!
Instead of hearing about police officers being refused service or treated disrespectfully, I believe this is the kind of thing we need to see more of.
Thank you to all first responders; you are all greatly appreciated! Gestures of gratitude like these serve as a reminder of why they do what they do.
Sources: Taphaps, Opposingviews, Lovethispic