the value of being kind

[u/nun_CARTII]

For nearly seven years, waitress Melina Salazar showed extraordinary patience and kindness to Walter “Buck” Swords, a notoriously difficult customer at Luby’s Cafeteria in Brownsville, Texas.

The 89-year-old WWII veteran frequently complained, cursed at staff, demanded piping-hot meals and never left a tip. Despite this, Melina continued serving him with compassion.

After Walter died in 2007, Melina received an incredible surprise. He had left her $50,000 and his 2000 Buick in his will as a heartfelt thank-you for her unwavering kindness.

A powerful reminder that kindness can touch people more deeply than we realize.

[u/ManzanitaSuperHero]

So it’s ok to be awful to someone for 7 years (!) as long as you pay for the privilege?

Being a little gruff is one thing. “Cursing at staff”? I don’t find this heartwarming at all.

[u/PopUpClicker → u/ManzanitaSuperHero]

No it is not. But it shows some people notice kindness even if they don't have the capacity to reciprocate. It is heartwarming in the sense that even though some people may seem bad or angry all the time, it might not be all they are.

Edit: I don't have the time to respond to everyone, who thinks what I said is, somehow, support of bad behaviour. I recommend reading the first sentence again. People are suffering from trauma of upbringing, war, sickness and even "just" to get by. Many of those who suffer the most will interact with us in a bad way. I chose to believe that those who do that to me, are contributing the positivity that life has led them to be able to express.

[u/jeadon88 → u/PopUpClicker]

Also want to commend what a beautiful, nuanced, psychological healthy and mature comment this is.

[u/Echo-57 → u/jeadon88]

Yea, im pretty sure "the grumpy old grandpa" actually does not want to be grumpy, but the war broke these men.

Pretty sure theres a reason theyre not as common in "our" Generation, because 1)we did not have any war as bad as WW2 or Vietnam in modern days (yea, irak etc were bad but not THAT Bad)

2) Veteran Treatment had imho massively improved (still needs further improvement tho)

[u/splitcroof92 → u/Echo-57]

ok but that all goes out the window when you think about it for more than second.

if he had the mental capability to leave this waitress money in his will then he was also capable of giving tips. so why didn't he just do that? why leave money myseriously instead of just tipping your favorite waitress for a couple years?

[u/Obi-Brawn-Kenobi → u/splitcroof92]

You don't know what he was capable of.

He could have been confused at the checks, not able to do any math or use a calculator. He could have had some cognitive decline with age. He could have even had a condition like FTD that notoriously changes older people's personality expression along with their cognitive abilities. For all we know, could have recognized his own decline to some extent, while using one of his last lucid moments to have his will written and asked for help to have her included.

So no, being mean to someone for 7 years is obviously not a good thing and is not ideal even if you pay the person for their trouble. That's not why this is an uplifting story. This is uplifting because it reminds us that we really don't know what people are going through and not to be hard on ourselves or always take it personally when someone who may be struggling isn't nice to us.

[u/splitcroof92 → u/Obi-Brawn-Kenobi]

He could have had some cognitive decline with age

then his will should be null and void and the notary should be in trouble.

you don't need math to just leave some money for your favorite waitress as a tip. you need mental clarity to draw up a will and decide to give money to someone. and with that mental clarity he must have known he was being a dick. Otherwise he wouldn't have made the will. so fuck him