Laurels for Hardee’s

For my wife’s birthday last year, I planned several big surprises. This year, I planned nothing but we got a surprise anyway.

As a joke, I asked the manager at Hardee’s to put a birthday candle in my wife’s fish sandwich. I had arrived before my wife and was placing an order for our lunch on Friday.

My wife and I were almost done eating when I noticed Jan Sweet, the manager, trying to get my attention. It looked like she was asking me, “now?” I didn’t know exactly what she meant but I signaled with a thumbs-up that everything was good. A few moments later, Jan and one of her employees came out of the kitchen singing and carrying two desserts. Each plate had a warm chocolate-chip cookie covered by a scoop of ice cream and topped with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle. It was a great treat for my wife and me.