Kindness Also Served at Chick-fil-A

Kindness Also Served at Chick-fil-A

I actively look for feel-good stories; especially now, with all the hurtful things going on in the world. When I find one of these stories, I like to share it with as many people as I can. It is the only hope we have for the world. Unless we all do our best to tell the world that there are angels who walk among us, we tend to adopt the attitude that the world is a cruel place where it is better to get “them”, before they have a chance to get you.

So with the above preamble, let me share with you the kindness of one such angel. His name is Mark Meadows. Mark is the owner of a Chick-fil-A in Birmingham, Alabama.

On a bitterly cold day in Birmingham a few weeks ago, a young, unkempt homeless man wearing a worn pair of jeans and a hoodie entered Mark’s restaurant at lunchtime. The young man approached Mark and asked if there was work he could do to earn something to eat. Rather than asking him to leave, Mark led him to a seat and offered him up a meal. Noticing that the young man kept rubbing his hands together, Mark then gave the young man his own gloves to be able to withstand the cold outside.

This wasn’t a random act of kindness by Mark. Last year, when a freak snowstorm made its way through Birmingham, Mark’s Chick-fil-A staff took free food to motorists and truckers stranded along Highway 280.

Just as important as Mark’s actions, was the fact that his act of kindness wasn’t something he bragged about. No, no one would have even known about this if it hadn’t been for Andrea Stoker, who happened to be eating in the restaurant at the time. She posted the following on her Face Book page and it became viral,

“Bryson( her son) and I are sitting in Chick Fil A on 280. A man walked in to get warm with all of his earthly possessions on his back. The manager, who is on his break, got up and asked the man if he could get him anything. Before the man could even answer, the manager asked if the man had any gloves and handed him his, then got him the meal of his choice. There is still so much good in this world and I'm so grateful that Bryson saw it all unfold.”

Mark Meadows commented that he didn’t realize he had been filmed by Andrea, and was surprised by people’s reaction to his act of kindness.

When I see a story on the Internet like this, I like to scan through the comments. Sometimes the comments are more telling about the individual than the actual article. Time after time, the comments pointed out other acts of kindness performed by Mr. Meadows.

I tell my children all that time that each new day offers each of us the opportunity to be a blessing, or a curse to those around us. We can stay within ourselves, or we can change our point of vision to include seeing those around us. We tend to think that we have to make some sort of grand gesture, and since we can’t…we fail to act at all. Most of us will never achieve world acclaim, or success…but we can be the difference for someone. I will leave you with a quote from another angel who walked among us…

If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one." — Mother Teresa