Restaurant Worker Helping a Disabled Woman Eat Her Meal Goes Viral

Ridge Quarles, a student from Kentucky, worked in a fast food restaurant called Qdoba Mexican Grill for over five years and hence knew most of the regular customers quite well. He was so good at it that he even knew what their favourite orders were by heart.

So when this customer came in, Quarles knew exactly what she wanted even before she said it out loud as her orders had always been the same - taco with cheese and hot sauce for lunch, burrito with hot sauce and cheese for dinner. Unlike most customers though, this woman stood out.

She was physically disabled, moving around in a wheelchair. She would rarely move out of the house and when she did, she struggled to come to Qdoba, taking a specialized bus and often waiting outside for help to enter the restaurant. Yet she persevered because she loved the food there, telling others it was her favourite place to eat in the whole world.

On this particular day though, she had a special request after Quarles had helped her through the line, get a seat, her drink, food and utensils.
“Sir, if you don’t mind, could you help me eat?”

Even with a bustling restaurant beckoning, Quarles did not think twice and stood by her side patiently, feeding her her choice of burrito with hot sauce and cheese. He did not think much of it, engaging her in pleasant conversation as she ate but a few tables over, a doctor who had been watching, was so impressed by the young man's selflessness that he recorded the scene on his phone.

Image Source: Wave News

The video went viral after Dr David Jones shared it and Quarles found himself pleasantly surprised to be the center of attraction.

"She needs help. And if I was not going to do it, no one was. Who else was going to do it?" 

- Ridge Quarles

You can watch the viral video here (at around the 3:10 minute mark)

 “He did not stop to think about it. It seems to me if everybody in the world would just use the little simple gift that they have to maybe benefit somebody else, think what the world would be like."

 - Dr David Jones

Author's note:
This is part of my  #BlogchatterA2Z and #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion. 

Of course, I have been tracking these lovely human beings for years now and have found children as young as six years old and old women in their eighties from across the world who will restore your faith in humanity.

Want more stories of compassion to brighten up your day? Hundreds of 'Heroes of Kindness' can be found here:

Heroes of Kindness - 2017 edition
Heroes of Kindness - 2018 edition
Heroes of Kindness - 2019 edition
Heroes of Kindness - Indian edition