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“None Of Us Knew What We Were Doing.” Customers Put Aside Hunger To Help Employees In Understaffed Restaurant. “We Were All Determined To Not Let Them Sink!”

sylvia arredondo’s mom in a denny’s kitchen, looking away as she talks to someone. customers’ orders on slips of paper can be seen hanging near her.

Anyone who has ever worked in the customer service industry knows how tough it can be both mentally and physically, even when well-staffed.

That’s why, when two employees at a Texas Denny’s found themselves running the entire restaurant alone, they were struggling to keep up. To make matters worse, a recently-ended concert led to an increase in orders. Thankfully, customers like Sylvia Arredondo and her mom were happy to help out. Find out what happened in a post she shared on Facebook below.

facebook post from sylvia arredondo that reads "After the concert last night we decided to go eat. It was a little after 11 or so and the only place we thought would be open was IHOP.  To our surprise it was closed, due to not having enough staff.  So we drove to a Dennys down the way.  We get inside, and one side of the dining areas is closed. The other was not too full, but there were people waiting to be seated.  A man looks at us and says “ I hope y’all aren’t in a hurry.”“There is only one waitress and one cook, my wife used to work at a Dennys so jumped in and started seating people.”
We are looking at each other and his wife comes to us and asks how many and seats us. She asked what we wanted to drink and brings it to us.  Another lady, who clearly did not work there, comes to take our order. She assures us she has no clue what she’s doing, she was just trying to help.  She goes on to tell us there is really only one waitress and one cook. The waitress attempted to call her manager several times and no response. This little waitress was in tears!   
My mom and I stare at each other for a minute and without hesitation we go to the kitchen.  The waitress and cook look like they are college aged students.  My mom instantly became a cooks helper and I became a waitress.  
Another couple started busing and cleaning tables, another gentleman started washing dishes."

Since Sylvia shared her experience online, so have others who were there helping alongside them. Even those with no experience in the food industry whatsoever were quick to do what they could in order to relieve the stress of these over-worked Denny’s employees.

“We just looked at each other and it wasn’t even a question,” Sylvia said. “We both knew what we had to do.”

Wow, what an unexpected way for customers to rally together to support such underappreciated workers. Thank you, Sylvia, and everyone else who helped out that night!

Don’t forget to share Sylvia’s story to spread word of the kindness that was shown that night.

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