Tonight a family came in and their sons were wearing their Boy Scout uniforms. They seemed a little self-conscious about it for some reason, so we started talking with them and told them how my brother and I used to go out to dinner with our scout uniforms on too. They were telling me all about their recent camping trip and how excited they were to be back home. I bought them dinner that night and told them how I know that camp food can sometimes not be the best food. They were very happy and can’t wait to pay forward.
Early Retirement
This afternoon at table 64 a woman and her friends came in to celebrate her retirement. She seems kind of young so I asked what she was retiring from and she explained how she was a teacher for 25 years at a local elementary school, and was going to stay home and help raise her grandchildren from this point on. I bought her dinner and her friends dessert. They’re all very grateful and are excited to pay it forward down the line.
No Wallet, No Problem!
Tonight a gentleman came in for his takeout, and after waiting for a few minutes it came up. When it came time to pay, he realized he had forgotten his wallet. I told him it was no big deal, and he just worked a long day so the dinner was on us. He was visibly surprised. I explained what we have been doing and he is excited to pay the good deed forward.
Special Orders Don’t Upset Us.
There was a young girl named Jenna dining with her family,who has Celiac’s disease. Due to dietary concerns, she and her mother decided not to order anything from the GIF menu, which meant that she wouldn’t be having anything for dinner. When I found out that she wasn’t eating anything, I explained to her mother that there were many options, went over a few that they hadn’t thought about including calling us ahead of time so we could have something prepared and ready, and explained that we took allergies very seriously. (Turns out Mom had brought a homemade quesadilla from home, but was a little uncomfortable asking us to heat it up for Jenna. Not a problem I assured her, so we took the quesadilla and prepared it just right.) After dinner, I came back to the table with a certificate for Jenna to come back and enjoy a meal with her family that she could order off the menu. She was so thrilled that we would do that for her, as was Mom. And when I explained what the Pay It Forward certificate was all about, she was very excited about her new responsibility.
Military Thanks
Today there was a young couple joining us for lunch who asked if we offered a military discount. We told them that we do, and explained how it works on Tuesdays. They said that was great, but can only get up to our area on weekends. They understood and thanked us for the program. I decided to hook them up with a certificate for the next weekend available they had to come up, and even if we couldn’t get the discount for today, we could definitely take care of them for the next time.
Hooking Up a Fellow Server
One of my servers, Meaghan Grant, came to me with a great RAK story. Here it is: “On Wednesday night a lady named Renita, who frequents T-BONES quite often, came in with her sister after their shift at Bertucci’s. I asked how their day was and Renita told me that at some point during the day she put her book down with all her money in it and unfortunately it never came up. She was bummed about it but said she was trying to forget about it and move on with her day. I told her how sorry I was to hear that and I hate when bad things happen to good people. Renita is always very positive and is always quick to give me a big excited hug when she sees me. She’s quite the ray of sunshine. I felt that she was worthy of a RAK, and when I told her that their food was on us and what the RAK was for, she was fighting back tears and couldn’t thank me enough for doing something so nice. She was a very deserving candidate and it definitely made for a better ending to her not so great day.” Great job, Meaghan!
Lobster Lover
Recently, a woman came in and was so overly excited to see that we had Lobster back on our Summer Menu. She couldn’t contain it! I thought her and her guest would be great people to Pay it Forward to. Turns out, this was the last day of her 3 day field trip with middle schoolers and she came here to relax and celebrate. She definitely deserved her lobster roll!
Easy as a Sunday morning
My random act went to a couple sitting at the bar enjoying a relaxing Sunday morning with a couple of our delicious Bloody Marys. It was the kind of lunch where this was the perfect cocktail to consume while spending a couple of hours in each other’s company. Lynn and Grant were very surprised when I told them I was taking care of their food, and were very eager to be able to pass along the Pay It Forward certificate. We made their day today!
Proud Bro
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of meeting Jack and his sister Kaylee. Jack had just received his first paycheck and brought his sister, who had been driving him to and from work each weekend, out to dinner. I thought this was awesome and he was so proud to be able to do this. As to not steal his thunder by picking up the tab, I gave him a gift card for his next visit so he could bring his parents out to lunch as well. They were both so happy and can’t wait to pay it forward!
Noobs
I had a pair of ladies visit us the other day for the first time ever, even though one of them lives in Methuen! They decided to join us as a post surgery meal to catch up. Both ordered our signature T-Bone Steak, and were very impressed by the portions. I stopped by the table to pass along a gift certificate to use on their next visit and the Pay it Forward certificate. Our local lady said her boyfriend was going to be jealous that she came here without him, but now that she had a gift certificate, she will bring him in very soon!