Waffle Kindness

The Bergman family (Michael, Sam, Amy, and Zach) live in the DC Metro area (as do we) and we run into them at a lot of theatre events.  It is always fun to see them, and I was particularly happy when I saw a Facebook post mentioning a very sweet gesture of kindness that their family shared.  I asked them if I could include it here and they agreed.

“Here's the story of our Waffle House encounter.

Anyone who has made a cross country drive will recognize this sign.

My family had spent the better part of a week at The Happiest Place on Earth (Walt Disney World) in Orlando, Florida. It takes a tremendous amount of work on the part of the employees (cast members, they’re called) to keep everything running smoothly and to keep all of the guests happy, especially when the parks are very crowded. 

This event happened on December 30^th, and the entire park had been turned into a huge dance party, which had the cast members in the streets, dancing with guest until past midnight, while they directed traffic to keep the huge crowds moving. I remarked to my family that while it certainly looked like the cast members were having a lot of fun, but were, after all, still on duty. It was after 1:00 AM by the time the fireworks were over and we left. 

My wife said that she was hungry, and since all of the restaurants on-site were closed by then, we drove to a Waffle House nearby. We walked in, and there were two Disney employees, still in their Magic Kingdom uniforms, having something to eat. I said to my wife, “I’d like to pick up their check."  She agreed, sharing the thought that our vacation would not be as fun, as engaging, were it not for the positive attitudes of the cast members, even in the face of cranky guests and long hours.

So we called over their waitress and told her not to make a big deal out of it, but to simply bring us their bill and tell them we were "sharing the magic."  When they signaled to the waitress that they wanted to leave, she told them that everything had been taken care of. They were surprised, to say the least. They came over to our table. “No one has ever done this before. You made our night. Thank you so much.”  We told them that this was just a small gesture to thank them for how much joy they brought to families at the park. There was lots of hugging and thanking all around. They wanted to take a picture with us, so we asked a waitress to take one for them and one for us. 

I love this photo - you cannot NOT smile when you see it.  

It’s such a simple thing really - to recognize the people who make our lives more fun, more interesting. It really took no effort on our part, and it made these two folks feel good about themselves and what they do.

And for a brief moment, a Waffle House just outside of Walt Disney World became The Happiest Place on Earth.

All members of our family have many more stories similar to this one, as we place a great value on being nice people. To quote Felix Unger, "It's nice to be nice to the nice". “

Thank you again for sharing Bergman family!!!  Your kindness most certainly makes the world a better place.  You are KINDNESS ACTIVISTS for sure (you will get kindness activist buttons soon!). 

What about YOU - have you been the recipient of kindness?  A giver of it?  Witnessed kindness?  Please take a moment to tell me about it so that I can share it here.  KINDNESS SHARED IS KINDNESS MULTIPLIED!  Send me your kindness at:  kindnessactivist@gmail.com