How One Small Act Of Kindness Put This Fast Food Employee In The Spotlight

Small gestures we make can mean the world to someone else, especially when our actions are genuine and stem from pure compassion. A  teen from Tennessee, Kailen Young, performed an act of kindness toward an elderly Hardee’s customer that has since been described as a, “little piece of heaven.”

When 17-year-old Hardee’s employee Kailen Young was cleaning the restaurant windows, he didn’t think he would become a social media smash for what he instinctively did. The teenager noticed an elderly woman, Bobbi Clare, using a walking stick to walk to her car. He stopped his work, held her hand, and led her safely across the parking lot to his car. It wasn’t something he expected credit for, he told WBIR as reported by Daily News; it was just the right thing to do.

A nearby customer, David Yardley, snapped a photo of the young man leading the elderly woman across the parking lot and the photo soon became viral with more than 17,000 likes on the Hardee’s Facebook page.

The photo speaks volumes, said David Yardley in a GodVine article. “Black and white, male and female, young and old – all came together in one photo. It was a tender moment,” he said. Hardee’s corporate office took notice of the act of kindness and presented a $1,000 check to the teen to show the company’s appreciation.

Clare said she was touched by his genuine actions. “I felt a little touch of heaven, that kindness and goodness in the world,” she told WBIR in the Daily News.

Young may not see his actions as anything out of the ordinary, but one woman was touched by his kindness. We may unfairly stereotype teenagers as obsessed with themselves or technology, but Young clearly shows another side of the compassion of the youth of our society.