Fast-Food Customers Slow Down To Reflect On Missing Man Table
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CARROLLTON (CBS11) - In our fast-paced world, a business that specializes in speed was hoping Monday its customers would slow down enough to notice an empty table.
The Chick-fil-A in Carrollton on Old Denton Road, like several of the fast-food chain's other locations, reserved a table Memorial Day for missing military men and women.
The table dressed in a white table cloth with a folded American flag placed on a plate included a sign explaining the tribute:
"This table is reserved to honor our missing comrades in arms. The tablecloth is white — symbolizing the purity of their motives when answering the call of duty. The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing and their loved ones and friends of these Americans who keep the faith, awaiting answers. The vase is tied with a yellow ribbon, a symbol of our continued determination to account for our missing. A pinch of salt symbolizes the tears endured by those missing and their families who seek answers. A slice of lemon on the plate reminds us of their bitter fate. The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God. The glass is inverted — to symbolize their inability to share this evening's toast. The chair is empty — they are missing."
The empty table near the front entrance of the Carrollton fast-food restaurant caught the attention of four-year-old Abraham Sterling.
At first he wasn't quite sure what it was all about but when his mother explained to him it was to honor the "real-life army men" who died to protect him, a child's curiosity began to have real meaning.
"I love that table," said Sterling clinching to his plastic toy army men he was playing with at restaurant.
His mother, Bailey Sterling said the table created a teachable moment.
"We were actually just talking about how it's very easy to get caught up in the celebration of Memorial Day when it more of a remembrance," she said.
Other customers on Monday said they came specifically to see the table.
Nancy Jumper first saw it on a Facebook post and then made sure to beat the lunch crowd so she could sit at the booth next the reserved table.
"It makes me cry just because all of the heroics and bravery that has gone into me being able to sit here," said Jumper.
The Carrollton resident said it was especially emotional as her father, a World War II and Korean War veteran, had died just a few weeks ago.
Manager Chris Wright said he has been overwhelmed by the response.
"It's real emotional when hear the stories and everyone has a story of the ones they lost and that's who we really want to pay tribute to," Wright said.
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