Thread: I need to share this. This happened a week ago and it shook me. I thought about it for days. Note: Nothing happened to ME. I was not really a part of the story. I want to pass on the story, as I saw it, about some amazing people.
Last week I tweeted a video for boy who was bullied, on video, at school. Being harassed and punched by fellow students. The next day, I had parked my car and was entering a Panera at dinner time. This in an affluent suburb of DC. Grandmas and their grandkids...
People heading home from work, or on their way to evening activities. The height of dinnertime sales. I parked and was walking toward the door when I hear yelling. I saw a group of HS girls yelling at another girl. I figured they were a group of friends having an argument...
I crossed the street and the yelling got louder. I turned and saw 4 girls pushing and punching a tiny, nerdy looking HS girl. 4 on 1. I decided to cross the street, but was stopped by cars driving by. By the time there was time for me to cross, an adult couple...
Had stepped in. The man making a wall between himself and his wife, who whisked the girl across the street. Everything seemed under control and I entered Panera. The line was long and I was near the back. A min or two later, I hear more noise...
I looked out the window and couldn’t see. I left the line and walked to the end of the windows and could see the 4 girls going for the nerdy girl, alone, on the sidewalk. I walked around to go out the front door and a woman came in with the girl, holding her up. Again, I...
Figured it was a random adult. Then another woman came in and went to talk to her. Then another. I realized all three women worked at Panera. They left the registers and went out to help, leaving a long line of people waiting
They got the girl food and calmed her down. She was bawling. They called her family, but nobody answered. Then, the 4 girls burst in the door and went after the tiny girl in a nearby booth. But for anyone could react, the 3 Panera women formed a shield and held the...
Girls off. They were being punched and yelled at. Quickly they pushed the 4 girls toward the door and outside. The girls waited outside yelling that they would wait for the girl to leave. The Panera women calmed down the waiting crowd and went back to work. One, a manager...
Called police. They tried to get the girl’s family on the phone again, but there was nobody to come get her. I told the manager that I would have no problem driving my car to the front door and getting the girl home safely, even though I was a stranger. The girl said, “maybe”
And tried her parents again, with no answer. Then police walked in. The 4 girls fled and everything went back to normal. Police said they would take care of it and I left. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I went back later that night, right before they closed.
I found the two register workers sitting in a booth chatting. I told them that I had to come back. I told them that they were amazing and what they had done was nothing short of amazing. They put themselves in harm’s way to help a scared girl. They took a beating, shielded...
The girl, and keep control of the crowds at the same time. They handled that shit like nobody else could have. They thanked me and I was about to leave when I saw the manager talking to them. She stopped me and thanked me for coming back. I told her what she did was amazing
Too. That what those three women did restored my faith in humanity on a day that I needed it. She said she had a rough day and she was surprised that I would say that as, to her, she was just doing what she felt was right. And that, she said, made her day and gave her a smile.
She needed. I reminded her that I didn’t do anything. She and the other two did a selfless thing and that I wanted her to know that someone noticed. These Panera women were real life heroes. Thank you, women of Panera. You 3 are strong, fantastic people deserving respect.
*** The manager told me that police did nothing to help. They located the 4 girls who told them that they did nothing and the girl they attacked had been bullying them in school. Police came back and questioned the girl, who told them that she has gone to the principal a...
Few times because of these girls and nothing has happend. Police told her that if she was lying, they would lock her up. The manager asked police to drive her home for her safety and was told that police, “are not a taxi service” and they left. The manager is filing a...
Complaint. The manager gave me hug and I left. I felt like I had witnessed the true goodness of humanity and people who did the right thing for the right reasons. Next time I’m there, they are getting all the tip that I can give.
Sadly, it’s much less than they all deserve.
