McDonald's employee praised for act of kindness after photo goes viral
A Chicago McDonald’s employee who closed the register during the dinner rush to help a disabled customer is being praised by the fast food chain.
A photo showing the employee, known only as Kenny, cutting food of an elderly disabled man was secretly taken by Facebook user Destiny Carrero. The image, which was first posted to Facebook last week, has been shared more than 250,000 times on Facebook and received more than 700,000 views on other social media platforms.
Seeing this today brought tears to my eyes! Compassion has NOT gone out of style.Today I made a quick stop at McDonald...
Posted by Destiny Carreno on Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Carrero wrote that she was in line waiting to order when the man, who was in a wheelchair, took his food, before asking: “Please help me.”
“Neither of us knew what help he needed, and the cashier suggested a few things before he figured out the gentleman needed help cutting and eating his meal,” the Facebook post read. “To be honest, I thought the cashier wasn't going to help, especially during rush hour in downtown Chicago, but to my shock, he shut down his register and disappeared from view.”
The McDonald’s franchise owner, Rod Lubeznik, said in a statement sent to NBC that the company is very proud of the employee, who they identified as Kenny. He added the restaurant chain is “overwhelmed by the positive response [Kenny] has received for his compassion and kindness.”
“It’s a true testament to who Kenny is, and a reminder to us all that one seemingly small act of kindness can touch the hearts of so many,” the statement read.
Images:
VOCABULARY:
1. rush hour - a time during each day when traffic is at its heaviest.
2. franchise - an authorization granted by a government or company to an individual or group enabling them to carry out specified commercial activities, e.g., providing a broadcasting service or acting as an agent for a company's products.
3. compassion - sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
4. overwhelmed - a feeling caused by too much anount of anything at a given time esp. emotions.
DISCUSSION:
1. How do you feel when people show you random acts of kindness?
2. In this modern age, is kindness difficult to come by?
3. What does this customer teach us about customer service?
4. In all honesty, if you were Kenny, would you have done the same?
