Woman Humiliates Waitress, Karma Hits Her Back Immediately – Story of the Day

An older woman believes she is being cheated by a girl in a coffee shop and insists the manager fire her, but later discovers she is wrong about her.

Eleanor Franklin was a woman of habit. She walked to her favorite coffee shop every morning and bought herself two croissants and one coffee. Always the same two croissants, always the same coffee.

Then one morning something changed and upset Eleanor enormously. Standing behind the counter was a new girl, a slim dark-haired nervous-looking girl, and Eleanor disliked her on sight.

"Two croissants, and one coffee, please," she snapped, "And make it quick!"

The young woman struggled to get her order right, and Eleanor huffed: "Honestly! The service in this place just gets worse!"

Eleanor's mood ignited when she looked at the tally. She screamed immediately: "Get the manager! RIGHT NOW!"

The young woman ran off in tears and came back minutes later with the manager. "Good morning," he said, "How can I help you?"

"This girl," Cried Eleanor, and squinted at the name tag, "This Gabrielle, charged me for two coffees and two croissants. I only EVER have one coffee!"

The manager said in a reasonable voice: "We will issue you a new invoice without the extra coffee, will that be satisfactory?"

"Satisfactory?" screamed Eleanor, "I want this girl fired immediately!"

"Look," said the manager quietly, "It's Gabrielle's first day, and I'm sure she didn't mean to cheat you..."

"I want her gone, I tell you! Or do you want me to take this up higher?"

"No, Ma'am," said the manager coldly, "It will be as you desire."

Eleanor marched off feeling vindicated. She was about to sit down to her breakfast when the doorbell rang. In the doorway was the young woman from the coffee shop.

"What are you doing here? I'll call the police!"

Gabrielle started working for Eleanor, and despite the older woman's harsh manner she started to like her.

But the young woman held out Eleanor's pocketbook. "You left this on the counter. I'm sorry, I looked inside to see your address..."

Eleanor snatched the pocketbook out of Gabrielle's hands and opened it to check if there was any money missing. She looked the young woman up and down and blurted: "Why did you bring it to me? I got you fired!"

Gabrielle smiled. "What matters isn't what you did, but what I do. And I believe in doing the right thing. Goodbye."

"Wait!" Cried Eleanor, "What about work?"

Gabrielle shrugged. "I'll start looking this afternoon."

"You can work for me...There's a spare room, you can do the cleaning and the cooking...But there better not be anything missing! What do you say?"

So Gabrielle started working for Eleanor, and despite the older woman's harsh manner she started to like her. Gabrielle realized that Eleanor was very lonely, but she never answered her phone.

Someone called her four or five times a day, but Eleanor always rejected the calls. Who was the mysterious caller? And why didn't Eleanor, who was so alone, never answer?

Gabrielle's questions were answered when she was cleaning out some old shelves. She found a box labeled 'Ethan's Toys' and out of curiosity, she opened it. It was full of children's books, toy cars and airplanes, and right on top a photo of a handsome young man.

It was at that moment that Eleanor stormed into the room. "What are you doing? Don't touch that!"

"Who is Ethan? Is he your son? Is he the one who calls you?"

"That's none of your business, Gabrielle! Get out! You are fired, you hear! FIRED!"

Gabrielle packed her bags quietly and left. Eleanor had to admit that the house was too quiet without her humming and her cheerful smile. But she had snooped, she wasn't to be trusted. She couldn't trust anyone.

Three days later her phone rang, and it wasn't Ethan's number so Eleanor answered it. "Hello, Eleanor! It's Gabriella!"

"What do you want?" Eleanor snapped, "Why are you calling me?"

"I just wanted to know if you are OK..."

"I'm OK," Eleanor said, "Don't call again!"

"Wait! I'm working at a new coffee shop, and I wanted to invite you to come and have a croissant...on me!"

"Oh..." Eleanor hesitated. "Oh alright, but just this once."

Eleanor walked in and immediately saw Gabrielle in a corner booth. Gabrielle waved her over, but when Eleanor got closer she saw that Ethan was stitting with her. "I should have known! You traitors banded together!"

"Wait, mom!" Ethan cried, "Please! I'm so sorry about what happened! I've broken up with Diana...I never should have listened when she wanted to put you in a home..."

"Go away...Both of you!" Eleanor was crying, "Leave me alone!"

But Gabrielle put her arms around Eleanor. "Eleanor listen...Your son loves you. He made a mistake, and he knows it. Please forgive him, he's your only son. You don't know how I wish I could be with my son. If you don't, you will always regret it..."

Eleanor heard Gabrielle's plea and reconciled with Ethan. She asked Gabrielle to come back and work for her, but she declined. She'd found herself a new job in an office. But she became Eleanor's closest and dearest friend.

What can we learn from Eleanor's story?

1. Friends can be found in unexpected places. Eleanor ended up finding a good and loving friend behind the counter of a coffee shop.

2. Don't hold grudges and learn to forgive. Eleanor's bitterness isolated her from other people until she learned to forgive.

3. Be true to yourself. Even though Eleanor was unpleasant, got her fired, and threw her out, Gabrielle was kind and loving.

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

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