I don't know about you guys, but in today's world it's really, really easy to be cynical and bitter. Seemingly every day, you hear news about people being treated unfairly, about animals in danger or about how the world we're living in is going to hell in a handbasket. I totally understand if you find it next to impossible to get out of bed in the morning.
When you're bombarded with the latest scandal, incriminating bit of data or myopic, misinformed opinion all over your News Feed, the temptation is to write humanity off as a lost cause, and then fantasise about some kind of apocalypse or massive event that'll make everything better again.
But once in a while, you find a story that makes you wonder if there's hope in the world, after all. It's not always easy to be an employee in the fast food industry and I'm sure that not everyone is great at their jobs, so I think that we should do our best to commend this worker at an IHOP, after they went above and beyond for a customer living with Down's Syndrome.
Out in the city of Abilene in the state of Texas, Dwayne Roach was on his way back home from a doctor's appointment when he decided to stop off for some delicious food at IHOP. Roach, who is 50 years old and has been diagnosed with Down's Syndrome, was settling into his meal when he noticed something interesting about his server, Millie Young.
Regina Thomason is Dwayne's sister, and she says that her brother is especially interested in name tags and badges, and the name tag that Young was wearing piqued Dwayne's interest, to say the least. Speaking in a Facebook post, Thomason recounted the encounter, saying that Young's interaction with her brother made his day.
"He told the waitress that he liked her name tag and then told her that his name is 'Captain America,'" Thomason said in the post, while Young reportedly replied: "I love that name!" It was a nice moment between server and customer, but that wasn't the end of the story.
Speaking to local news outlets, Millie Young explained how she aims to put a smile on the face of anyone who she serves. “When people come in, I want to make them smile. If they leave happy, it makes me happy,” said Young, and that meant she was more than prepared to go above and beyond for "Captain America".
Dwayne and his sister went about their tasks, and finished their meal as expected. But as they prepared to leave the restaurant, Young returned with a surprise for her favourite customer. She pinned a name tag to his shirt, and Dwayne was delighted to see that the name tag said "Captain America".
"Thank you to Millie at Ihop. U made his day ![sic]" said Thomason of the kind server, while Young herself said: "When he left, I said, ‘Bye, Captain America!’ and he just giggled. It made me feel good." It just goes to show, folks; kindness and sensitivity may sometimes feel like dying trends, but there are plenty of people out there like Millie Young who take pride in just making a customer's day.
