A Foul-smelling Beggar Woman Enters the Restaurant – Story of the Day

A homeless woman staggers into a fancy restaurant and is thrown out by the manager, but a kindly waiter helps her and receives an unexpected reward.

It was a cold and rainy night when Mr.Kinkaid, the manager of one of New York's most prestigious restaurants saw a dirty, ragged homeless woman stagger in. The woman walked over to one of the best tables and sat down.

The other guest started talking among themselves disapprovingly. They paid a lot of money to dine in the restaurant, and they certainly didn't want to have to share the sophisticated space with a smelly homeless woman.

The irritated Mr. Kinkaid marched over to the homeless woman sitting shamelessly at that table. "Excuse me!" He said sharply, "I don't know if you are aware, but this is not a soup kitchen."

The woman who was sopping wet and trembling looked up at Mr. Kinkaid. "Please, I'm so cold, and I was hoping you could help me..."

Mr. Kinkaid gripped the woman by the shoulder, pulled her out of the chair, and dragged her to the door. He threw the woman out onto the street. "We are not the Salvation Army, lady, so don't come back!"

Two weeks later a stunningly beautiful and elegant older woman walked into the restaurant.

The woman sat on the pavement, shivering and weeping. A young waiter on his break walked over and helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked gently.

"Yes," said the woman, "I will be, thank you."

The young man put his hand in his pocket and drew out a small roll of banknotes. "Please, I want you to take this. It's my tips for the day. It's all I've got."

"You're very kind," the woman said softly, "So different from that other man..."

"Oh, he's the manager...He's a hard man. My mother used to be the chef here, but she was working 16 hours a day and her health began to suffer -- so he fired her."

"He fired her for being sick?"

"And he said she owed the restaurant money, which is why I took this job, to pay off her debt,"

"Young man," the woman said, "I don't know much, but I know kindness and character such as yours gets rewarded."

The woman walked off, and the young man went back inside to serve the next lot of guests under the watchful eye of the unpleasant Mr. Kinkaid. He was sure he'd never see that woman again.

But he was in for a huge surprise. Two weeks later a stunningly beautiful and elegant older woman walked into the restaurant. Mr. Kinkaid immediately rushed to greet her and led her to the best table.

"Madam, welcome! How may we serve you?"

The woman looked Mr Kinkaid in the eye. "Mr. Kinkaid, isn't it?"

The man smiled. "Yes, Madam, have we met before?"

"Yes indeed. Two weeks ago I was mugged. The thief took my purse and pushed me into a puddle. Does that ring any bells?"

Mr. Kinkaid frowned, confused. "I'm afraid not..."

"I walked into one of my restaurants, expecting help, and you threw me out."

Mr. Kinkaid turned dead-white. "YOUR restaurant? Madam...I don't understand!"

"I was the beggar woman you threw out, Mr. Kinkaid, Now do you recognize me?"

"Madam...I'm so sorry... a misunderstanding..." he stammered.

The woman smiled. "This is no misunderstanding, Mr. Kinkaid: you are fired."

The lady walked over to the young waiter. "Hello! I'm so glad to see you again. You were so kind to me, and I was very moved by your story."

The young man blushed. "Lady, I had no idea who you were. I just wanted to help out someone in trouble..."

The woman shook her head. "I know you had no idea who I was. You thought I was a poor homeless woman and you gave me all you had. Thank you."

"Please," said the young man, embarrassed, "Don't mention it!"

The woman took his hand. "From this moment on, you are the manager of this restaurant, and if you are as good as I think you are, you will soon be heading the whole chain!"

Tears flooded the young man's eyes and he hugged the woman, who was, in fact, his boss. A week later the former waiter's mother was back at her job as the chef, to the delight of the guests who had missed her wonderful creations.

The young man's spontaneous act of kindness won him a brilliant future. As for Mr. Kinkaid, he is now the floor manager of a burger stand in a small town in Colorado, where no one had ever heard of him.

What can we learn from this story?

1. Don't judge people by their appearance. The manager was unpleasant to a woman he thought was homeless, but she turned out to be his boss.

2.

The young waiter's sweet gesture towards a woman he thought was homeless and hungry earned him a rich reward.

3. Treat everyone with respect. People deserve our respect, whether they wear rags, or designer clothes -- treat everyone with the same consideration.

Share this story with your friends. It might inspire people to share their own stories or to help someone else.

Any resemblance in this story to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who mistreated a disabled waiter and learned a life lesson.