One of our regulars (Mike) assited another couple in the parking lot. As this older couple was leaving their vehicle the woman dropped her belongings so naturally he helped. When inside Mike noticed the older gentlemen was sporting a Vietnam vet hat. He thanked him for his service and politely the older gentleman said thank you for noticing. He then, shared his experience of earning two purple hearts. TWO! Mike often comes in and has a drink on his way home and heads out rather quickly. As he was driving away, he stopped and turned around, came back in and told the couple their evening was on him. He wanted them to know how grateful he was for his bravery, selflessness and dedication to our country. The couple was incredibly grateful. Mike had left before I learned of his beautiful act of kindness. So when I saw him the next time I thanked him profusely and gave him dinner on us.
short and sweet
keeping it simple….lovely little couple in the other day that did a random act of kindness for a table that was dining nearby. We caught them at the door to keep paying it forward and thanked them for being part of the kindness movement with a GC of their own.
brightened up a day
Today Scott was taking care of a woman that was having a hard time. She visits us quite frequently and today seemed different. We weren’t able to quite get what she wanted correctly, she seemed frustrated and confused and sadly we were concerned since it wasn’t her usual self. When the woman stepped away, her daughter spoke up and gently apologized that today was a tough day and let us know we weren’t exactly messing up but she had spent some time at the hospital with a friend and it was a trying day. She eventually enjoyed her meal and pleasantly thanked my server for all his help and patience. He came to me and asked about what to do with the recooks and some food that was taken home. I told him never mind….let’s RAK em. I let him privately share our intentions since the details weren’t openly shared in front of the woman. It was her daughter that spoke up. It appeared like a natural guesture of kindness and they were grateful for our act. Scott has a great way of connecting with our guests and easing a troubling day or enlightening one. I love when he comes to me with his interactions amongst our guests
heck of a day for grandma
Today we had a family celebrating a birthday. 98 years young and surrounded by warm family of many generations. Rich came up to share the family that wanted to make sure we sang happy birthday to the right person and not forget was the sweet grandma at his table, we made sure to RAK them. It was a great end to a wonderful family night out
16 Years Remembered
Last night, we had a very sad couple join us at the bar. When Christie learned why, it tugged at our heart strings so we wanted to make them smile. They were the proud owners of a beautiful Pug. They were blessed with 16 wonderful years but he sadly passed yesterday and we wanted them to share one more memory. When they were getting ready to leave, I approached them and shared that Christie informed me of their tragic loss. They had only ordered a few appetizers so we took care of those and presented two RAK certificates. I knew they had a lot of memories over the years but asked them to perform a Random Act of Kindness in his honor and make one more. The other GC was of course for them to enjoy.
Supporting of Family
Heather was waiting on a regular the other day. When she approached, she started with “heyyyy we haven’t seen you in awhile, where have you been hiding?”. His response was sadly that his wife had passed. Shocked and saddened by this news she immediately got me involved and asked if we could do a RAK or anything nice for him to which I agreed happily. We wanted him to do something nice in his wife’s name so we took care of his meal items and offered him a gift card to come back and share more stories. But also to take some time in his travels during the Christmas Season, surprise someone and RAK them in his wife’s honor. This is something she would have greatly appreciated.
A Show of Support
We have a regular in our lounge named Tracy. He visits often but usually during the earlier part of the day. We noticed he was coming in more frequently at night. During one of his evening visits we learned his mother was in the hospital and he did not expect her to survive much longer. Seeing him at night meant he was visiting her and the visits became more frequent, eventually a daily occurrence. On one particular night he was sitting alone and started talking to one of our employees and opening up. While sharing stories and emotion, we wanted to show him how we truly do care about not only our employees and guests but their family as well. He was overwhelmed by the generosity and attempted a “thank you” but just hugged me. He came in the next day to pick up a quick take out and sought me out to say that he truly was beyond appreciative of the gesture. A few day later, I was dining in our lounge. Tracy came over when he was ready to leave and said his mother had passed. While he was broken hearted, he will never forget the kindness he received while he was going through one of the toughest goodbyes. Not a lot of companies offer someone managing the front of the house the opportunity to impact someone that profoundly
Fur Babies Are Family
We had a guest dining that was having a tough day. Her pit bull lost a battle to lymphoma in only a couple of weeks. As an animal lover and someone who recently lost a furry family member to cancer, it just tugged at my heart strings. When she shared her sorrow with our bartender, Jamie immediately searched to share the devastating news and asked if we could do anything for her. We asked her to perform a random act of kindness in honor of her lost love and took care of her stay with us that evening. She was tearfully grateful and looks forward to passing on the kindness.
Totally Random
Today I wanted to do the absolute most random RAK so I used the bartender bag of chips when we do giveaways and pulled a chip until we hit a guest that was present. Over to table 6 in the lounge to surprise one of our regulars and asked they Pay it Forward and make someone else’s day. Sweet and Simple.
Decades of Devotion
A couple was dining in our restaurant tonight. I knew them years ago. They are high school sweethearts, class of 1994. Friday nights in high school were often spent on the football field cheering on our very talented athletic classmates- Pinkerton was notorious for winning. 25 years later they were waiting for their girls to enjoy their time at the Mack Plack football game (a rival annual game between Londonderry and Derry). It occurred to me how many years they have been together and it is not every day you see high school sweetheart still enjoying each other after more than two decades. I sadly haven’t done many RAKs lately and although yesterday I made a serviceman’s afternoon, I wanted to keep it going and bought their dinner. They were of course surprised and grateful. It’s always a wonderful feeling to be responsible for that kind of unexpected event happening from just sitting down and having a meal.