$50,000 for Being Kind

Posted by Jack

The takeaway from the story below is this, we may never reap the benefits of our daily acts of kindness, but then kindness is its own reward.  So you just keep on being nice to people and never look back.   The world will be a better place for it.

Now this:

For those who work in a service-based industry, dealing with grumpy and demanding customers can be one of the toughest task in their day-to-day career. That was what Melina Salazar went through for seven years.

Melina who works as a waitress at Luby’s, a diner in Brownsville, Texas had a chance to serve 89-year-old World War II veteran named Walter “Buck” Swords who was well-known among the staffs at the diner for being difficult.

Swords was one of the regular customers at the diner.  No waitresses at the diner wanted to serve him as he complained so frequently except for Melina.

Knowing well how Swords was as a customer, she still served him with a smile on her face.  Melina said that Swords was a very demanding customer who wanted everything his way. ”He was mean to the girls. He wanted everything his way. He wanted the food very hot—he didn’t care, he burned himself!”

However, one day, she realized that she had not seen Swords for quite a while. It was summer in 2007 when she found his obituary in the local newspaper.

Fast forward five months later before Christmas, Melina had the surprise of a lifetime when Swords’s lawyer came to the diner.  According to the lawyer, Melina’s kindness, top service, and understanding had touched Swords’ heart so much that he left her a 2000 Buick and $50,000 in cash!

There is no excuse when it comes to treating other people with kindness and respect. It may be hard when the other person does not reciprocate to our kindness but Melina’s story definitely shows that it always pays off to be kind to others.

For seven years, she tolerated the difficult demands that Swords often gave her but who knows that she would get a $50,000 tip for her patience!

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

11 Responses to $50,000 for Being Kind

  1. Chris says:

    This is a test–I’m having trouble commenting.

  2. Harold says:

    So Jack, do you think Chris or Libby has the wherewithal that they may thank you or Tina in a like manner as well? LOL

  3. J Soden says:

    Good for her! And thank you for your service, Mr. Swords!

  4. Libby says:

    Oh, come on … the moral here is what? You can spend your live behaving like an A-hole, and then redeem yourself with a legacy?

    I don’t think so. It’s nice that, IN THIS INSTANCE, the suffering party was recompensed … but by no stretch of the imagination does this redeem the A-hole, or even really compensate her for the abuse she took.

    Brings to mind a comparable scenario. We have that A-hole in the White House. He will be gone from the White House soon, and should WE turn the other cheek? … let him sink into the obscurity he so richly deserves … or shall we hound him into that litigious hell he has spent his life inflicting upon others?

    B … definitely option B.

  5. Chris says:

    Reminds me of the plot of “Waitress.” What a nice and well-deserved surprise for this woman.

  6. Harold says:

    Libby writes ‘Oh, come on … the moral here is what? You can spend your live behaving like an A-hole, and then redeem yourself with a legacy?’

    too easy!

Leave a Reply to J Soden Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.