Like many police officers these days, Officer Rance Quinn of The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department has been feeling a waning lack of support for the work he does. For over 20 years, Officer Quinn has dedicated his life to serving and protecting — but the recent criticism directed toward cops is finally starting to get to him. “It just seems like there’s a lot of anti-police type of activity going on,” he told WDAF. “I know we’re unwanted but it makes us feel like we’re under-appreciated.”
But recently, something happened that reignited Officer Quinn’s confidence. He and Captain George Sims went to eat lunch at a Chili’s restaurant. In mid-conversation, a teenage girl approached them, dropped a napkin on their table, and casually walked away. The two officers looked down at the napkin and realized there was a note scribbled on top.
“Thanks for keeping us safe.”
Taken aback by the unexpected message, Officer Quinn tried to get up and thank the teen… but it was too late. She and her family disappeared from of the restaurant. Every day since Officer Quinn has kept the napkin in his pocket and carries it everywhere he goes.
When Officer Quinn and Captain Sims went to pay for their lunch, their server said something that stunned them once again — and what followed was a chain reaction of kindness that’s gone viral with tens of thousands of shares…
“As many of you are aware there has been a significant anti-police movement over the last few years. It can cause those of us in Law Enforcement to want to give up.
It seems though that the normally silent supporters are speaking out to support the profession.”
“As an example yesterday a coworker and I met at Chili’s for lunch to discuss many things. We were surrounded by people on all sides.
As a nearby table got up to leave a teenage girl from that table laid a napkin on our table that said ‘Thank you for keeping us safe.’ This young lady touched us in a way she might not have realized and before we could react to it the family walked out. We sat there and talked about what a fantastic gesture.
Next, a female walks up with two young kids and tells us that her 5 yr old son who is deaf always wanted to meet a police officer. We interacted with our young friend. They walked off.”
“As we finished our meals and asked for our checks the waitress told us the table behind us bought our food. That was the table that left us our note. The waitress spoke about how much she supported us and could not thank us enough. What great people.”
“As I looked at her I could see true emotion in her eyes and she appeared to be tearing up. We tried to refuse the cards but she was having none of it. She said she wanted to buy our dinner but the other table did and bought us the cards instead. She left as we walked out. How awesome are all of these people!
We actually said to each other, ‘Let’s just stay at Chili’s forever.’”
“So we got up and headed toward the front door and were stopped by the lady who introduced us to her son. She handed my coworker and I a gift card and told us how she really appreciated what we do. She spoke of her family in the military and she supports the military and law enforcement. She went on to say she always wanted to join but she is also deaf and could not.
“I’m normally not a big ask you to share person but in this case please share in hopes that these gestures make it back to the people who did them so they will know just how appreciated and POWERFUL their actions were.”
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