Derrick, a 25-year-old front desk
clerk at a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Atlanta, Georgia, is social media’s
hero of the week.
This past week, a snowstorm
crippled Atlanta. An older guest approached the front desk of the hotel in
tears. Her husband had just endured heart surgery. They had gotten stuck in
gridlock and never made it home.
The couple was thankful to have a
warm bed in the hotel, but he needed medication. She tried to walk to a
pharmacy, but it was too slick. She wasn’t dressed for the frigid temperature
either. Desperately, she asked if Derrick could help her.
His first phone call was to the hospital
to see if they would deliver the prescription, but their staff was stranded. Then,
he called every pharmacy in the region. He found one a mile and a half away that
was open and could fill the prescription. At 4 a.m. when his second shift ended,
he pulled on his not-warm-enough-coat and walked the distance. Although it was bitterly
cold, he said “I was younger than she was and I could handle it. I felt like I
had to be an example of hospitality. A part of hospitality is morality.”
A guest who witnessed his actions
shared Derrick’s story on social media. It spread quickly because people found
inspiration in his selflessness.
Today’s gift was to walk a
friend’s dogs while she was out of town. I didn’t walk a mile and a half in the
bitter cold, ice and snow to help an elderly couple get needed medication. All
I did was walk around the neighborhood in the cold rain. I thought about
Derrick and how it must have warmed his heart when he delivered the medication
to the elderly couple. Thinking about it gave me a warm feeling, too.
In Giving,
Robin
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