The Washington Post had a story the other day in its “The Optimist” column that is totally worth reading, because it reflects not just the best of human nature, but also how a business can play a critical and nurturing role in customers’ lives.
Here’s a synopsis:
Charlie Hicks is a 78-year-old retired military veteran who ate every day at the Shrimp Basket in Pensacola, Florida. Every day. “Hicks,” the story says, “who had just retired from a second career as an accountant, would always order a cup of gumbo for lunch and sit and watch baseball on the restaurant’s TV.”
The restaurant’s chef, Donell Stallworth, took notice and when he wasn’t busy, he’d sit with Hicks. They started out talking about baseball, and over time, talked about pretty much everything else. “He grew on me, and I grew on him,” Stallworth said.
The Post writes:
“One day in early September, Hicks, 78, didn’t show up for lunch as usual. One of the managers, Denise Galloway, had Hicks’s number in case of an emergency. She called Hicks and learned that he was sick, so she asked him where he lived and offered to bring him gumbo. Hicks asked her to leave it outside his door because he didn’t want to get her sick.
“A couple of days went by and Hicks still wasn’t coming in, and Galloway called Hicks again. It went straight to voicemail. She went back to the kitchen and told Stallworth what was going on.
“‘I just grabbed my keys and walked out,’ Stallworth said of that day, Sept. 11.
Stallworth went to Hicks’s apartment and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again, and still no answer. Stallworth was about to turn and leave when he heard a faint cry for help. He opened the door, which was unlocked, and found Hicks on the floor. He had fallen, and was severely dehydrated with two broken ribs. Stallworth was on the phone with Galloway back at the restaurant and asked her to call 911.
“‘When I got there, he didn’t even know what day it was or what time it was,’ Stallworth said. ‘He really couldn’t talk, because he was so dehydrated.’ Stallworth stayed with him and tried to give him some water while they waited for the ambulance.”
And then, “Hicks spent the following two months in the hospital and then in rehab recovering — with his friends from Shrimp Basket visiting him regularly and delivering gumbo. When he fell, his apartment lease was almost up, and his rent was about to increase.
“Shrimp Basket general manager Casey Corbin — who said Hicks is like the restaurant’s ‘adopted grandpa’ — noticed there was an empty apartment next door to the restaurant, so she inquired about the rent. She was able to secure it for Hicks, and the landlord brought the lease to him in rehab so Hicks could sign it and make a payment.”
When Hicks got out of the hospital and continued his recovery at home, the staff continued to bring him gumbo. He goes to the Shrimp Basket when he can, which is easier now because he lives next door. The restaurant’s staff treats him like their grandpa, they say.
“Hicks is still a bit bewildered by all the attention,” the Post writes.
“‘It’s not like I found the cure for cancer or something,” he said. “I just fell in my apartment.”
“He added that he has been touched by the number of people who have inquired about his health since the story went viral.
“Corbin said she hopes this story will help people remember to look out for one another.
“‘People matter,’ she said. ‘Every person that walks through that door I treat like a Mr. Hicks’.”
KC’s View:
Just a lovely story, about lovely people.
Kind of makes me feel better about the world in which we live.
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