Note: we are republishing this story, which originally made the news in September 2015.
A woman’s act of kindness towards police officers in Slidell, Louisiana, went viral.
The Slidell Police Department took to Facebook to post a photo of a check from a local Outback Steakhouse where several officers reportedly dined.
The check included a message from Arline Wood, the restaurant’s manager, and Zoe Rao, a server.
“Be safe! Thank y’all for y’all’s service. Enjoy your meal on us!” the note read, with the total on the check showing $0.00. The pair decided to pick up the $67 tab for the officers, who were visiting the restaurant on their lunch break.
“They’re the sweetest guys, I enjoy waiting on them,” Rao told Fox 8.
“They care about the community, they care about everybody, they’re just great guys, our whole police force is great and these guys at night, I went to Zoe and I said, let’s take care of it,” Wood added.
The day after the incident, the department shared the photo on their Facebook page — something Wood and Rao weren’t expecting. Soon, it’d garnered over 1,000 shares.
“I got a phone call early in the morning and I was like what are you talking about? People were calling me and then we saw it on Facebook, then it’s on this one and that one, and we didn’t do it for this publicity, because lord knows I don’t like all this publicity,” Wood said.
Photo Credit: Facebook
The department expressed their gratitude towards the pair in their post. The post added that the officers left a tip that covered the cost of the bill, in accordance with ethics laws and the department’s policy.
“Words can’t describe how this makes all of us feel,” the post read. “Thank you Ms. Arlene and Zoe for being so kind and showing your appreciation for law enforcement.”