Have you ever gotten the opportunity to meet a hero or one of your favorite celebrities? If so, you probably remember feeling your heart racing and lump forming in your throat.
Meeting one of our idols is a nerve-wracking experience!
Often we wonder what they’ll think of us or whether we’ll make a fool of ourselves. The anxiety is a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more we worry about appearing nervous and awkward, the more we appear nervous and awkward!
In April of this year, a little boy named Noah got the opportunity to meet one of his heroes but could not, for the life of him, think of what to say. Luckily, he came up with something much better!
On this particular day, Noah and his mother Amanda were eating breakfast at a Denny’s restaurant in Lakeland, Florida, at the same time as a local officer.
In an interview with 10News, Amanda describes Noah’s excitement, saying, “[Noah] says, ‘Mom there’s a police officer down there!” I said, “Yeah, I know. I seen him when I walked in!”
Noah really wanted to talk to the officer but was just too nervous.
He idolizes policemen, wanting to be one when he grows up, and may have been feeling a bit awestruck at seeing one of them up close.
Fortunately, the young boy quickly finds away around his shyness, coming up with a better plan instead: breakfast.
Amanda tells 10News, “He’s like, ‘I know what to do’ […] And he goes, ‘Can I pay for his breakfast?’ And I said absolutely!”
Noah uses his birthday money to pay for the officer’s breakfast, scribbling a note on the receipt before bringing it to the man’s table.
The note reads, “I want to be you when I grow up. Thank you for your service. Noah Smiling”.
The officer in the restaurant, Officer Eddie Benitez, was definitely not expecting a free breakfast— especially not from an 8-year-old boy— but he has since told 10News that the boy’s gift meant “everything” to him.
“It meant everything. It meant that I’m supposed to wake up every morning and put on this uniform and go out there and do what I do. You know? It means that I need to keep trying to be a good example to all these young guys.”
After buying his breakfast, Noah posed with Officer Eddie Benitez for a photo that has since been uploaded to the Lakeland Police Department Facebook page and shared around the world.
People are praising both Noah and the Lakeland Police Department, writing:
Good job, Noah!
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