Restaurants like the Olive Garden that serve immense portions are used to boxing up diners’ food and sending them on their way, sure. A fair amount of these boxes must be left behind, because people are forgetful. When Else filled up on salad and breadsticks and didn’t touch her lasagna, she wandered off without her carryout box. She called the restaurant to see whether her box hadn’t been thrown away. It had. But they had something even better forher.

Last night, a friend and I had dinner at the Olive Garden in [redacted], MS. By the time my lasagna rollata came, I was too full from eating salad and bread sticks to eat anything else. The waiter boxed up my meal for me.

Like the airhead I am, I left my food on the table and went home without it. I called the Olive Garden to see if there was any chance it hadn’t been thrown away. The woman who answered the phone told me the busboy had cleared the table, and my leftovers were gone. I said, “That sucks. I never even got to eat a single bite. Thanks for checking, though.” I was about to hang up, when the woman told me to hold on while she talked to the manager.

When she came back on the line, she told me they were going to replace my meal. I thought that was awesome because it was completely my fault that I had left my food behind, and I hadn’t asked them to do anything for me (because it was completely my fault). When I got to the restaurant, not only had they replaced the food I left behind, they also gave me a container of salad and a bag of bread sticks.

I thanked the woman who bought my food out, but I think Olive Garden deserves extra kudos for their excellent service.

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