Today, my son, who has non-verbal autism, went on a field trip to Chili’s with his class, where they were supposed to order and pay for their meals on their own to help them become more self-sufficient. After waiting for a while and not seeing his classmates, I decided to call the school. To my surprise, I found out we were at the wrong Chili’s location! I explained everything to the server and let her know we’d stay there since we didn’t have enough time to get to the right one before his class left. I was a bit embarrassed, but there wasn’t much I could do at that point.
About halfway through our meal, the manager came over and said that Ashley, our server, had filled him in on our situation. He generously offered to cover our bill for the day! Shortly after he left, Ashley came by and mentioned that even though we wouldn’t be charged, she still wanted to give us a receipt and could even lend us some cash if we needed it, so Hunter could experience paying for his meal himself. Then the manager returned with an envelope full of coupons, giving Hunter more chances to pay for his meals in the future.
I just wanted to share this lovely experience in honor of March being Developmental Disabilities Month, right before Autism Awareness Month. A huge thank you to the incredibly kind and thoughtful staff at Chili’s in Odessa, FL. They might not realize just how grateful we are for their generosity today!
Credit goes to the respective owner.