Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Birthday Dinner Becomes an Opportunity to Practice Patience and Kindness


--by savraj, posted Nov 3, 2017
The other day my daughter and I went out for dinner to celebrate her birthday. We went to a place she loves. The restaurant is on top of a hill and when we arrived the sun was setting behind the mountains.

The kind waitress met us at the door but mentioned that, without a reservation, we would have to wait a very long time for our order because they were short staffed. She said that it could be over an hour before we would get our order. Well, we decided that we would leave because she strongly advised that we should!

We stood outside wondering what we should do next when the owner came out and insisted that we stay! So we went back in. The waitress was right. We waited close to an hour before we got our appetizers!

But do you know what? It was ok because we had tea and we enjoyed some great conversation and a lot of laughs. In the end, the experience was beautiful in so many ways. Everyone dining there knew that the owners and staff were struggling.

We were all facing this together and everyone seemed to be very understanding and appreciative. When we were leaving we gave the waitress a Mindy made peace dove. Even before I could explain to her what it was, she burst into tears! She explained that she was a high school student and had just moved here from overseas and was having a hard time juggling school and work and didn't have many friends.

As she held the dove close to her heart she said we had no idea how much it meant to her! We were all in tears. Shortly after, the cook came out to apologize for the delays and we told him that everything was perfect and so beautiful. No apologies were necessary. In fact, we were so grateful for everything. It couldn't have been better!!
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Readers Comments

Kixx wrote: Patience is so important. Thank you for sharing.
francesa wrote: How moving that must of been for you! You did such an amazing thing!
Mish wrote: There was a reason you were meant to stay, wasn't there :)))))❤️ Beautiful, just like you are, Savraj.
KiwiCat wrote: that's fantastic, and you are so patient for staying and being gracious about the wait.
mindyjourney wrote: thank you for choosing to stay, honoring the struggle of restaurant and staff and giving a Peace dove 🕊. Amazing how those doves KNOW who to fly to ❤️.
Annc wrote: Thank you for your understanding and patience. Reaching out to the waitress made a real difference in her life.
leoladyc728 wrote: sounds so lovely all around.
DANCE wrote: a great experience for all of you
kjoyw wrote: Sounds like you handled it perfectly and so kindly! Sure all the restaurant staff so appreciated that. Sometimes we are just in too much of a hurry! Glad you had such a good time with her!

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