The moment a young waiter sat opposite a 91-year-old veteran in a Pennsylvania restaurant, listening attentively while on his break, went viral after another customer was touched by his kindness and posted pictures to social media.
The pictures, which racked up almost 200,000 “likes” within two days, were taken by Lisa Meilander on Aug. 18 as she ate at the Eat'n Park in Belle Vernon.
The elderly man, identified only as Frank, said he didn’t hear well and had forgotten to put in his hearing aids. He then began to explain how he had lost his hearing during the war.
“Eventually the man apologized for talking so much, said Meilander. ”‘I’m alone now,’ he said, ‘and I don’t often have someone to talk to.’ Dylan smiled and said he enjoyed listening. He then helped him figure out what to order and left to take it to the kitchen.”
When it was his break, the waiter, Dylan Tetil, asked if he could sit with the gentleman as he ate.
He said that the customer was very emotional. “He was almost crying when he was talking to me, when he was talking about the war. It just really hit a soft spot in my heart, honestly.”
“I am totally amazed at the response to my photos and story.”
She wrote on Facebook that the moment had rekindled her faith in young people’s values.
“With all of the negative stories about our youth today this was a breath of fresh air. I wonder if I would have been as kind and attentive if I were the one working there.”
Meilander said that she tried to pay for the man’s dinner, but found another customer had already jumped in to get the check.
“As we left the restaurant the two of them were conversing and many people seated nearby were smiling,” she wrote. “It was a touching sight.”