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<\/p>\nOne restaurant in North Carolina will either be under fire or see a boost in their business after customers reported that staff at the diner took a particular notice to them praying over their meals, going so far as to include something unexpected on their receipt.<\/p>\n
Mary\u2019s Gourmet Diner quickly received national attention after owner Mary Haglund confirmed that her establishment gives a 15 percent discount on bills for \u201cpraying in public.\u201d In fact, she\u2019s been offering it for several years at her Winston-Salem, North Carolina diner.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFor me, every plate of food is a gift,\u201d she explained, according to The Blaze. \u201cAnd, I never take that for granted, and when I see someone in a restaurant honoring their gratefulness at my table \u2026 it touches my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, don\u2019t think for a minute that Haglund forces her beliefs on any of her staff. If any of the wait staff is uncomfortable or disagrees with it, they aren\u2019t forced to give the discount. In fact, Haglund never advertises the discount. Rather, it\u2019s something staffers sporadically offer only when they feel compelled to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a moment or faithfulness about the plate of food,\u201d Haglund explained. \u201cIt\u2019s not even a policy \u2014 it\u2019s [something] we only do when we\u2019re moved to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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As a teen, Haglund, who is the daughter of a preacher and missionary, lived in the Philippines where she saw a true need. \u201cWe are so fortunate in this country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Although Haglund says she fell away from her faith as she grew older, she still describes herself as a spiritual person who believes in a higher power.<\/p>\n
Jordan Smith, who had traveled to Winston-Salem for a business trip and stopped for breakfast at Mary\u2019s with two colleagues one Wednesday morning, is responsible for the sudden popularity of the diner\u2019s discount. Smith posted a photo of her receipt to Facebook after receiving the discount when she and co-workers prayed over their meal.<\/p>\n
The receipt soon made its way onto Z88.3 radio\u2019s Facebook page in Orlando, where it captured the attention of thousands of individuals who both \u201cliked\u201d and shared it on the social media network.<\/p>\n
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\u201c[We] prayed over our meal and the waitress came over at the end of the meal and said, \u2018Just so you know, we gave you a 15% discount for praying,\u2019 which I\u2019d never seen before,\u201d Smith told HLN, adding that she\u2019s surprised by how quickly the photo spread online. \u201cI just innocently posted it to my Facebook page and it\u2019s been really fun to see where it\u2019s gone from there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Smith was also \u201cdefinitely surprised\u201d by the 15% savings, adding that \u201cthe three of us at the table talked about how wonderful that is and what a cool thing it is that they do as business owners.\u201d But, of course, not everyone will agree. However, before anyone takes issue with and jumps all over Haglund\u2019s business for rewarding, the 60-year-old diner owner said the discount was never limited to a specific type of prayer, religious perspective, or particular higher power. Besides, nothing in our country says there has to be a separation of and plate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One restaurant in North Carolina will either be under fire or see a boost in their business after customers reported that staff at the diner took a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n