What would you think if you saw day after day the same old man, sitting alone at the same table in the restaurant you worked and ordered the same meal every single time?
Would this man’s daily visit to the restaurant surprise or intrigue you? Or, maybe you would like to know why this senior was always alone?
This isn’t an imaginary or hypothetical scenario, but our story today. Meet Mr. Doug Parker, he was a 97-years-old World War II veteran two years ago at the time this story came to light.
Mr. Doug, as the employees at this local Arby’s used to call him, was a regular at the restaurant, where he used to go at the same time every day for more than two years.
As a loyal customer at Arby’s, Mr. Doug would go and dine there every afternoon, sitting at his regular table and ordering always the same meal. A roast-beef slider with Swiss cheese and a senior drink, a Coke with no ice.
Of course, as you can imagine the daily presence of Mr. Doug at the restaurant even during the holidays, was starting to give birth to many questions. The employees started to wonder why an old man like Mr. Doug would go there every day. What was his story?
“He comes in with a walker, as soon as we see him come to the doors, we try [to] grab the doors for him,” Christina Gamage said.
Christina is the manager of this particular Arby’s branch near Queen Creek and Alma School Roads. She explained how Mr. Doug started to come to the restaurant just after she became the manager and since then he hadn’t missed a day.
In the end, the employees decided to ask Mr. Doug how come he visited every day and why he always ordered the same meal.
“Hey, Mr. Doug. We just want to know what keeps you coming back to this Arby’s location?”
So, they were surprised to hear that the poor man was suffering from a stomach disorder and that particular sandwich at Arby’s was the only thing that he didn’t make him suffer.
“This is the only place I can get a sandwich or get something to anything else to eat that doesn’t hurt my stomach,” Mr. Doug replied.
Hearing this, the Arby’s crew decided to “adopt” in a sense Mr. Doug, as the man was all alone in life with no family, living in a retirement home.
Therefore the staff decided to play a more active role in Mr. Doug’s life, they gave him all their phone numbers and told him to call them in case he wasn’t able to make it to the restaurant, so instead of him going there, they would deliver his favorite meal to him.
They also gave him a $200 gift card. After though FOX 10 reported the story, the Arby’s upgraded the gift card to a “food for life” one. Now, Mr. Doug could eat for free for the remaining of his life.
What a beautiful and heartwarming story, we really ought to give more respect and help to all those seniors in our society that might need us.
If you would like to see the whole story, check out the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
