When one little boy wanted dessert, he would have never expected to be treated like this by one cashier.
Trip To Freddy’s
A visit to Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers wouldn’t be complete without an indulgent treat after your meal. One young boy was standing in line, fumbling for change at the counter. When he realised he didn’t have enough money for his dessert, this cashier surprised would stun bystanders.
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The Lengths People Will Go
Freddy’s Frozen Custard has always been a favorite foodie spot amongst locals. After all, the desserts and mouth-watering burger were widely known to be the best in the area. Despite years of service, this was about to be a first for all the employees that day, especially for Travis Sattler…
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Man Behind The Counter
Travis Sattler was the man behind the counter on the fateful day of the incident. He had been working at Freddy’s since June 2014. When he arrived at work that morning he expected this to be a day like any other. He had worked his way up to become the manager of the branch and was determined to do a good job.
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Cashier Moving Up
Before he earned his promotion, Sattler served as a cashier. One of his many duties was taking orders for the restaurant’s signature steakburgers and frozen custard, as well as hot dogs and sundaes. Initially, it seemed that nothing was out of the ordinary when a young boy approached the counter to make his order.
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Rough Start
Sattler had a rough start in life and wanted to prove to himself and his co-workers and superiors that he could be a reliable and trustworthy part of the team. He had big goals to better his life and was committed to his job.
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Not Knowing What To Expect
Each day, he interacted with hundreds of customers. He never knew what to expect when sitting behind the counter. People can be unpredictable. Some customers were aggressive and threatening. He always sat a little on guard in case something should occur.
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Problem On The Horizon
During his time as a cashier, he thankfully didn’t encounter menacing clients, but he never knew what could happen with unhappy customers.
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What Could Be Wrong?
So when the young boy approached the counter with his dessert, it seemed to be an ordinary situation but there would soon be a problem.
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Sweet Tooth
“[The youngster] wants to order dessert,” Sattler recalled to USA Today in 2015. The boy had a few coins in his hands, as well as a few loose dollars, which he wanted to use to pay for his treat. But the cashier could see that something wasn’t quite right.
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Little Bit Nervous
“[The boy] was a little nervous that he didn’t have enough,” Sattler said. After fumbling with the money, the youngster eventually “just kind of ended up handing me everything that he had,” the cashier said.
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Counting The Cash
After counting the young customer’s dollars, Sattler realized there wasn’t enough money there to pay for the dessert the boy wanted. “He was maybe two dollars short,” he said. But the cashier immediately knew he had to step in.
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Test
This was the moment the Sattler had been looking for. He knew this was an opportunity to prove himself, to think fast, to act with conviction under pressure and to do right by another human being. What would he decide to do, would he make the right decision?
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What To Do Next?
Without hesitating, Sattler pulled his own wallet out and removed his credit card from it. Then, he turned to the unsuspecting little boy and simply said, “It’s on me.” The Freddy’s employee said the child had the best reaction to the kind gesture.
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What Had He Done?
Sattler described the boy’s face lighting up with “the biggest eyes and just the widest smile.” The young customer then took his dessert from the counter and walked through the restaurant to sit back down with his mom. But this touching story doesn’t end there….
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Didn’t End There
The little boy happily enjoyed his treat. Around 30 minutes after Sattler had made the act of kindness, the boy and his mom got up to leave the restaurant.
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Handed Him A Note
As the pair walked by the restaurant’s counter, they abruptly stopped. Then, the little one handed the cashier a special note from the mother and son – and Sattler couldn’t believe what was inside.
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Read Out Loud
Sattler still has the note, he later read the message out loud to news cameras. “It says, ‘Thank you for being so nice and paying for my concrete. We need more people like you!’” He showed the camera the handwritten note, complete with a smiley face at the end.
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Couldn’t Believe The Discovery
But the note held more than just a sweet thank you. To the cashier’s shock he also also found a $100 bill wrapped up inside. It seemed the gesture had a lasting impression on the mother and son and they wanted to pay Sattler back for his kindness.
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Made His Day
“It made my day,” Sattler said. “I was smiling for the rest of the day; I could not get over it.” The cashier could only hope that his actions had positively affected the mother and son, since they had done that for him.
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Altered His Life
Sattler said, “I’d like to think that I made a good impact on their day, and I kind of brightened it up, just like they did mine.” The $100 didn’t just alter those 24 hours, though – it would help shape the 18-year-old’s future.
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Looking Out For One Another
A small act of kindness multiplied 50-fold is just the kind of inspiration our world needs in today’s troubled times. Sattler is a true example for so many. The world certainly does need more people like him. This would have more impact on his future than the customers could have imagined.
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Paying His Way Through School
“I am currently paying my way through nursing school,” the cashier told Houston’s KPRC news in 2015, “so [the money] will definitely help with that.” Sattler’s good fortune would only continue, once the president of Freddy’s heard the story of the lovely exchange.
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Not Finished With Surprises
The company’s CEO not only personally reached out to Sattler, but promised to send him an additional surprise through the postal service. Officials from Freddy’s later confirmed that they’d sent the kindhearted cashier an additional $100, doubling his payback for his kindness.
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Couldn’t Be Prouder
Padden Nelson, who owned the Katy franchise where Sattler worked, spoke to news outlets about how proud he was of his young employee. He didn’t understate how important Sattler’s actions were. “Travis’s face is probably [one] that boy will remember for a long time,” he told USA Today in 2015.
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People Can Make A Difference
Nelson also said Sattler’s actions prove that people of all ages can make a difference, no matter how seemingly small. “There is a lot of good still out there, no matter what we hear, especially in our young folks. We have a number of them here, Travis being one of them,” the restaurant owner told KPRC news.
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Future Dessert Cravings
And, later, Freddy’s would follow up Sattler’s actions with a positive step of its own. They hoped to find the boy and his family, so that they could hand over a few restaurant gift certificates to fund their future dessert cravings.
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We All Need To Look Out For Each Other
And that move fell in line with Sattler’s last piece of advice to those who heard his story. He had already experienced the good that comes from an act of kindness, and hoped others would do the same. “We all need to look out for each other,” he said.
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Think Twice
This heart warming tale just shows that doing a small deed can go a long way. Travis stated that it made him feel a sense of pride putting that money away towards his school fees, knowing that in that 100 dollar bill would always be a story of unconditional kindness, and that made it all worthwhile.