Russell O’Grady from Northmead, Australia is definitely a popular town figure. The 48-year-old man has Down syndrome, but he didn’t let that stop him from leading a happy life and finding a place to work.
In fact, the man has recently celebrated his thirtieth work anniversary at the local McDonald’s fast-food chain.
Russell has been working there ever since he left high school and loves greeting customers the most. Some people even visit the McDonalds just to say hello to Russell and it didn’t take long before he started enjoying some local fame.
His dad Geoff even told that Russell has been “the best-known person in Northmead” ever since he took the job at the fast-food chain. He didn’t think that people would embrace him so warmly and couldn’t be more proud of his son.
“People stop him on the street and shake his hand,” dad Geoff told the Daily Mail. “He’s very affectionate, dearly loved and appreciated, to such an extent that we just don’t believe it. Customers love him just as we love him.”
Russell’s job at McDonald’s has also greatly helped him in his personal life, and it gave him a completely different look at things.
“Somebody said to him ‘are you handicapped?’ and his answer was ‘I used to be when I went to school, but now I work at McDonald’s'”, Geoff recalls.
“Because other people who work there are normal, he assumes he is now too.”
His first job duties were rather limited, but he was quickly given more responsibilities and received a secure job. Over the years, Russell has done plenty of things in the restaurant, including packing the Happy Meal boxes, sweeping trays, cleaning up, helping around in the kitchen and his favorite job of all, greeting customers.
‘These people are absolutely fantastic, if it wasn’t for their attitude he wouldn’t still be working,” Russell’s dad said about the McDonald’s staff.
Russell’s 30th work anniversary was approaching, and the staff came together for a small surprise and a celebration.
“You feel happy that you have him here, he’s just nice to have around,” store assistant Katie Chlyder said.
“He’s really sweet, he always comes up to me to shake my hand hello and goodbye without fail, just a really sweet gentleman.”
“He’s kind of funny, he walks to work, and you’ll ask him what he’s listening to, and he’ll always say: ‘The Beatles’, he loves the Beatles,” Katie added. “The Beatles and Abba.”
It was Russell’s time to shine as he was presented with a large celebration cake, in the style of the iconic ‘golden arches’ logo from the franchise. “30 Years of Magic,” the cake read.
Russell is well-liked by all of his fellow workers and the customers love chatting with him. Some even consider him to be a bit of a local ‘hero’ and inspiration.
“There have been a lot of people who’ve worked with him and shared that connection,” Katie said. “In fact, there’s a man who worked with Russell when he was a teenager and now his children work with him.”
“He’s a very familiar face to a lot of people. He’s an incredibly social person and can hardly walk down the street without people stopping to chat with him or buy him a beer at the club.”
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