Imagine working at a fast food restaurant when you see a teenage customer crying. Would you mind your own business, or would you ask them if there’s anything you can do to help?

In this story, one employee is in this exact situation, and he decides to ask if he can help. He wasn’t prepared for the sad story of family drama he was about to hear.

Let’s read all about it.

Teenager orders a kids meal

So I work the register for a fast food chain. About a month ago I was put on 8am to 4pm shift, which I dreaded because lunch was super freaking busy at our branch due to it being located next to a shopping center and a middle school

Anyway, I’ve been hating life since the new shift because of the non stop abuse from rude customers and parents who think they own you with their spoiled little brats who throw tantrums when the toys in the kids meal that they want aren’t available.

But what gets me the most is these horrible high schoolers that come up, order a kids meal and try to draw a reaction from me like they want me to go”wut lol, a kids meal but you’re not a kid, this is so random lolol.”

He doesn’t give them the satisfaction of reacting.

I hide my rage with a deadpan mask. Ain’t giving them the satisfaction.

I treat it like any other transaction because it really isn’t funny to anyone but them and the friends who watch them do it.

But this story’s not about them.

Another teenager came in.

Today, as my shift was ending, it was particularly quiet. One kid comes in and he looks probably 16 or 17. Wasn’t sure at first cuz he was pretty tall but the skinny body and acne was a giveaway of his youth.

He comes up and asks for the kids meal and asks for a specific toy (one of the birds from Rio 2)

In my mind I go “Ugh, another one of these” but something was not right. There wasn’t a group of snickering friends behind him or any trace of trolling in his face.

So I ring it up, he gets his order and goes to sit and I think nothing more of it.

The teen was clearly upset about something.

I was staying overtime and there were only about 5 tables occupied so I decided to start clearing up some of the messier ones.

I notice the skinny guy is sitting in the corner booth staring at his phone and not touching the meal.

I get closer to him as I clean up each table and when I’m next to him I can’t help but notice that he’s crying. Not like sobbing or anything but his face was flushed bright red and he’s constantly wiping tears and snot off his face between fiddling his phone.

Now I don’t have a bleeding heart for strangers but this guy looks really helpless so I ask him what’s up. Just so you know, I am absolutely horrible at comforting people so this was roughly our back and forth

He found out why the teen was upset.

Me: Hey, are you alright?

Him: No.

Me: Was your meal… uh, not satisfactory?

Him: I was supposed to meet my sister here. It’s her birthday and I wanted to give her this bluebird (forgot the name) because she loves this movie.

Me: Aw, that sucks man. Yeah, being stood up is never fun. It’s alright, I’m sure you’ll get another chance to give it to her.

He learns more about the situation.

Him: Our parents are separate and they’re keeping us apart. We meet here some days because she walks home from [nearby primary school] and her mom doesn’t want her to see me or my dad. *incoherent mumbling* drive all the way here on her birthday.

Me: Sorry, man. Listen, you’re a great guy and I hate to see you down on your luck. Anything I can do to help?

He keeps on and on about he’s texting her and apparently his sisters mom found out they’ve been meeting secretly and decided to drive her to and from school so she doesn’t get another chance.

From what I gather, it’s his step sister because he never refers to the mother as mom – always her mom. and he says that he and his dad are trying to keep in touch but the mom is having none of it. What a mess.

He had an idea but quickly realized it wouldn’t work.

I ponder asking him to describe her to me so I could maybe give her the toy if I ever see her (we get a lot of students from that school) but I did not like the idea of approaching grade 6 schoolgirls in the off chance that I’d find the sister so I could try give her a toy as a favor her brother asked me, like that’s not totally creepy.

I’m already a minimum wage earning loser that has no social life, I’m not going to be pegged as a pedophile too.

I sat with him for a while and he tells me about how they always got along and their parents used them as pawns in their sham of a marriage and he and his sister always felt like they only had each other.

Like I said, I’m horrible at comforting people so all I could ask was if he had anyone to talk to about it, because I sure as hell wouldn’t be able to help much.

He wanted to help.

He says no and I end up giving him my mobile number and getting back to work because my super was giving me the death glare of “why the heck are you sitting down with a customer” and I think that if I can help this guy even a little bit, it could make a world of difference.

I tell him to text me if he ever needs someone to talk to.

3 hours since I got off my shift and I still haven’t heard from him.

There’s a life lesson here.

I’m sorry if this is a downer. I realize as I’m typing this that there really isn’t an ending here. But today I realized how trivial my misery was.

Just working at a fast food chain is bad in itself, but it’s a situation I put myself in. (Didn’t do well in school, half-***ed attitude in college, having no ambition)

But this freaking kid is in a world of hurt and he doesn’t deserve any of it.

I feel bad for that kid and his sister. It’s too bad they can’t meet anymore. At least they can text each other.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person expected a different ending.

An adult admits to ordering kids meals.

Here’s some praise for OP’s actions.

This person is surprised teens want to buy kids meals.

This is probably true.

He listened, and that had to help.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.