Red Lobster is in the news, and surprisingly, it’s not as a punch line, but for doing something that’s actually pretty objectively adorable.
Reddit user Coppin-it-washin-it’s parents used to go to Red Lobster every year on their anniversary. As corny as that might seem to a lot of people, that’s a pretty cute tradition when you realize they kept it going for 31 years. After his father died in March, he, his mother, and his sister all went out on the following anniversary to keep the tradition going. When their server asked if they were there for a special occasion, his sister explained the whole deal. The server didn’t make an obviously big deal out of it — until it came time to pay, when they were given the above note. If for whatever reason you can’t read the image, here’s the full text:
“We are sorry to hear about your husbands passing, but we appreciate your loyalty in spending 31 years of your anniversary with us. For our appreciation your meal is on us! We look forward to spending your next anniversary with us!
Sincerely, Red Lobster and your server, Taylor”
When another Jezebel staffer sent me this, my initial reaction was “you’re not going to get my heart to grow two sizes this day, Mark.” But it’s hard not to find it heartwarming when the server and manager involved went out of their way to do a nice thing for its own sake.
For those of you doubting the authenticity of the whole thing: Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster’s parent company) confirmed that it happened when the local news came calling. For anyone claiming this is just a publicity stunt (because I’ve now been doing this long enough to know how the internet thinks); please stop talking, for now and always. No one cares. Crawl back to your miseryhole and just for the love of God let us have a nice thing for once.