When Sylvia Arredondo and her mother, Idalia Merkel, decided to stop at Denny’s after going to a concert, they probably didn’t expect to spend the rest of their night working there, but that’s exactly what happened. The mother-daughter duo knew something was wrong the minute they walked in and noticed that the restaurant was staffed by only two employees, both college kids struggling to keep up with hungry customers. Arredondo and Merkel then learned that the restaurant’s only front-of-house employee had tried and failed to contact the manager on numerous occasions that night. To make matters worse, the kitchen was staffed by one employee tasked with making all the orders. The women said at that point there was no question about what they needed to do. Arrendondo took over as a waitress, while her mother helped in the kitchen. Another couple noticed what was happening and started bussing tables and cleaning, while yet another customer went to the back and began washing dishes. Everyone involved admitted that they didn’t really know what they were doing, but were determined to help two employees who were trying their best to do their jobs. The makeshift staff worked until 3 a.m. before convincing the two employees to close the restaurant for the night. Just when you think there’s no humanity left in the world, something like this happens to prove you wrong.
