Coffee on the House

--by wayfarer, posted Jun 2, 2008

I was sitting in a cafe with my wife on a rainy afternoon when the pleasant, cozy atmosphere changed.

A man came in. A man came in, unshaven, unsteady, soaked through with some blood on his face. He seemed drunk or stoned and hardly able to walk. Still, he managed to get himself to a table and sit down, almost falling asleep before the waitress took his order.

The cafe fell silent.

Everybody waited to see what would happen next -- would the man create a scene, could he even pay for the coffee he'd ordered, would the owner have him thrown out?

Meanwhile I was making a rookie Good Samaritan mistake. I stayed in my seat regretting that I didn't have any money to help him, forgetting that money was not the only way to help. Then instead of the waitress returning to the table, the owner, a short woman, brought coffee to the man's table. Everyone waited to hear what she would say.

"Are you ok?" she said. "Here, have this coffee. It's on the house. And why don't you sit by the fire and get some more heat?"

Moments later the cafe was a happy, buzzing place again.

The unfortunate man had changed the whole mood of the place, making everyone nervous, but the owner changed it all for the better, just by being kind.

2120 Reads

Posted by wayfarer
Jun 2, 2008
Comments (7)

Readers Comments

Lisha wrote: How kind of the owner!! The world would be such a lovely place to live in if we have more people like him..
And yes, It really shows that Money is not the only way we can help others..a kind gesture, a caring thought, a smile and a loving word is all it needs!!
Thanks for sharing! :)

rayann wrote: We need to all take a chance and do something to help people. Why are we even afraid? There should be nothing to be afraid of.
What if we were down on our luck and that was us there?
Thanks for the reminder.

lmil1954 wrote: What a blessing! Perhaps he was related to the owner...(like your Uncle Billy story) That would be cool. Anyway thanks for sharing another nice story.

perseverance wrote: Thanks for sharing this one

nickname wrote: A wonderful story. Thanks.

brighteyes wrote: God Bless the kindness of the owner, you for sharing the story and the old man to....all are warmed by the RAOK id hte cafe and here at the site.

JuneBug wrote: Yes, alot of owners would have thrown him out, and I'm glad this didn't take place. It was handled well. I'm glad you got to witness that....:}

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