First Choice
Living at Salem, Oregon, was a man named Kirk Alexander, who was at the age of 48. He loved pizza so much. So much, in fact, that he had been ordering pizza from Domino’s every single day for the past ten years. Until one day, the pizza store employees did not receive any orders from their regular customer. They all wondered why he hadn’t placed an order and felt as if something was off.
For 10 Years This Man Ordered Pizza Every Day When Employees Suddenly Realize Something Is Not Right
Loved By Everyone
People from all around the globe could relate with love for this cheesy delicacy called pizza. We all know how it looks like, as well as love it! Are you aware that America loves pizza so much that they purchase an average total of 3 billion pizzas each year? If you ask me, that is a LOT of pizzas that are sold and eaten each year.
Loved By Everyone
A Regular
According to Sarah Fuller, the general manager of this particular Domino’s branch, “He orders every day, every other day. “His order pops up on the screen because he orders online. So, we see it come across the screen, and we’re like, ‘Oh, Kirk’s order.’” Goes shows that Kirk has been ordering so much that the pizzeria had already been familiar to him.
A Regular
Forming Connection
It was 2009 when Sarah Fuller first met Alexander. This was also when she initially started working at Domino’s as a delivery driver. Because of her work, she was able to get to know Kirk around this time and know that he worked from home, barely left his home, and had a history of health problems in the past.
Forming Connection
The Man
Kirk Alexander was known to be a quiet man; he was occupied with what he was doing and did not mind anybody as he was doing his own thing. You could even say that he is an introvert of some sort. While the Domino’s family were fond of him and appreciated his loyalty, his neighbors had a lot more to say about him. What did they think of Kirk?
The Man
Neighbors
According to Kirk’s neighbors, who lived across the street from where he lived, they mentioned that they barely see Kirk. According to Robert Lalonde, “I knock on the door every once in a while, but sometimes he answers, very seldom does he ever answer the door.”
Neighbors
Mixed Reviews
Although this was the experience of a particular neighbor with Kirk, other neighbors had different opinions. It is quite sad that Kirk barely made any effort, so you will soon understand why maintaining relationships is so important in life.
Mixed Reviews
Good Guy
Another neighbor of Kirk by the name of Ben Theodoriches said, “He’s a pretty good guy – stayed away from everybody. He’s come over a couple of times and helped us fix computers, and, you know, he’s just good at that.”
Good Guy
Very Familiar
When it comes to familiarity, Sarah said, “Our delivery drivers he knows really well, because obviously, he has conversations with them at the door.” Which made perfect sense as Kirk had been their most loyal customer for the better part of the past decade.
Very Familiar
11 Days With No Order
Suddenly, Kirk’s order had stopped for a few days, which gave the staff a weird and horrible feeling. Initially, they thought Kirk had probably gone on a trip to visit friends or family, maybe even a business trip. Regardless, they all still felt that something was off as they were used to always having Kirk’s orders.
11 Days With No Order
Continuing Like Normal
Regardless, the only thing they could do is to return to their regular lives and act as if nothing had happened. They were sure that their loyal customer would order again after a while, but sadly, that day did not come, and they immediately got worried.
Continuing Like Normal
A Friend To The Employees
With each day passing without Kirk’s orders, Fuller was asked by one of the delivery drivers who had noticed that their loyal customer had not made any orders for quite some time. Which led to Sarah to do a bit of digging around.
A Friend To The Employees
The System
She decided to check the system and found out that Kirk had not placed any orders for over 11 days in a row now. This was very unusual, making her feel uneasy with what she had realized. She needed to make sure that nothing was wrong and that everything was alright.
The System
Out Of Character
All of them knew that Kirk would never pass a day without ordering, which is why with him going 11 days without ordering, things were a bit off. They felt like they were overreacting at first, but after a while, they could no longer ignore it. It was odd for Kirk to stop ordering. Something serious was happening.
Out Of Character
Enjoyed Each Item
Sarah felt that something was not right. The man had been too loyal to them for a long time now, and the staff all know him well as a quiet, friendly, and kind man. According to Fuller, “He orders all the time, so we know him,”
Enjoyed Each Item
A Drive-By
For some of the employees, he became somewhat a part of their family. The staff members knew Kirk so well that they knew exactly how long his tips were, and they were aware that it would never be this long. Would it be possible that he had changed to a different pizza chain?
A Drive-By
Trying To Understand
Over the years, the employees of that Domino’s branch had gotten to know Kirk. Each day, the delivery people were all excited to deliver to him. They started to think that he might have been ordering elsewhere and could not help but feel terrible about this possibility.
Trying To Understand
Unanswered
According to the employees, Kirk enjoyed everything they had to offer as he had no usual order. According to them, “Kirk is a very well-known customer, but he doesn’t have a regular order – he’ll order anything from pasta or pizza to sandwiches or wings. It’s never the same thing every time.”
Unanswered
Always Surprising Him
Kirk was not the type to order one particular pizza and stick with it for a long time. I mean, think about it, he ordered every single day. Do you think that anyone could bear eating the same food everyday for over a decade? Of course not! Instead, Kirk would try everything that was on the menu. Even when the store had new products, he would be the first one to try every one of them.
Always Surprising Him
Reaching Out To 911
With each day passing, the Domino’s staff were all starting to get worried by the possibility that there may be another reason behind their loyal customer’s disappearance. Their thoughts were starting to go wild as they were thinking of unsettling reasons. Finally, Sarah sent an employee to his house to check upon him.
Reaching Out To 911
Calling For Help
The delivery driver named Tracey Hamblen went on his way to find out what exactly was happening. Tracey walked up to the front door and saw that the lights were turned on inside Kirk’s home. As he got nearer, he was able to hear the television coming from inside the house.
Calling For Help
Checking Things Out
Sarah decided that it was about time for her to do something. It was a slow night on May 8th at 1 A.M. when she sent the delivery man on duty named Tracey Hamblen, to check up on Kirk and what he might be doing at his home.
Checking Things Out
Overwhelmed
The delivery man came unprepared for what he was about to see when he went to Kirk’s home. He was sent to check out things on his own and hoped that he would return to the pizzeria with happy news. He stepped outside his vehicle and walked to the front door.
Overwhelmed
His Findings
Tracey became excited when he noticed that the home’s lights were on as he knew that their loyal customer was there. Suddenly, he started to question himself, if Kirk was inside with the lights on, that meant that he was not away or was on vacation. If he did not leave, what could be why he did not order pizza from them?
His Findings
A Knock
He waited for a response as he knocked on Kirk’s door. It was sure that some were inside the house as all of the signs pointed out that someone was inside. Which is why he knocked once more as believed that Kirk would answer this time around.
A Knock
Ignoring Him
He started to knock on the door repeatedly, but unfortunately, he was met with no response. At this point, he decided to stop knocking and took his phone out of his pocket to call Kirk on his phone. Regardless, he still received no response, which is why he suddenly became nervous.
Ignoring Him
No Answer
According to an interview she said on Good Morning America, Fuller said, “He wasn’t answering his door, but there were lights on, and you could hear the TV playing.” They tried to call him a lot of times, but after many attempts to contact him yet was met with no answer, they decided to call 911.
No Answer
Making The Decision
Fuller said, “He came back to the store, and that’s when we went ahead and decided to place the 911 call.” All staff n the store are all worried and decided that calling 911 was the best possible action that they could do, as they were all scared and worried as they did not know what happened nor what was going on.
Making The Decision
Lucky Charm
Once more, the delivery man tried knocking on the door again, and as usual, he was met with no response. He tried dialing Kirk to contact him, but he would only be sent to the voicemail each time. He felt that something was wrong as his gut instinct was telling him that it was the case.
Lucky Charm
The Call
By the time that he returned to the restaurant, all of his coworkers agreed with the idea of calling 911 as they do not know what else to do. They decided to take that particular action as their instincts and told themselves that they would rather be safe than sorry.
Sigh Of Relief
When Hamblen got back to the restaurant, they all discussed what they would do and eventually reached a unanimous decision to call 911. The call began with, “Well, I need some help on what to do. It could be an emergency.”
Sigh Of Relief
A Humbling Experience
Hamblen said in the call, “This is Domino’s Pizza, and we have a customer that usually orders like every night from us. And he hasn’t ordered in 11 days.” After this, the phone operator asked for every detail and called the Marion County Sheriff’s Department.
A Humbling Experience
Explaining The Situation
Hamblen also told the phone operators that it had been over 10 days since Kirk had last placed an order, which is unusual behavior for him as an occurrence such as this had not happened in all of ten years of his loyalty to this pizzeria.
Explaining The Situation
A Bit Bizarre
It is not much of a stretch to say that the police force and the phone operators of 911 must have been quite surprised to hear of this and know that his beloved Domino’s branch had noticed this man’s disappearance. Regardless, the authorities also felt suspicion.
Legendary Story
Not sure of what they would find, the sheriff sent out officers to the house of Alexander. They repeatedly knocked at his door when they arrived and repeatedly called out his name in hopes of getting a response from the man.
Legendary Story
Hearing
Sarah said, “I guess they could hear him inside, yelling for help. So, they broke down the door, and the paramedics got in and got him down to the hospital.” Previous reports show that Kirk has a history of strokes in the past.
Hearing
Super Supportive
Surprisingly, they received a response! They were all familiar with the sound of someone calling for help. By the time they bashed down the door and went inside, they found Kirk lying on the floor. It seemed that he was in and out of consciousness.
Super Supportive
Help Is On The Way
The officers called for an ambulance, which immediately moved as fast as they could to assess Kirk. By the time they arrived at Kirk’s house, the paramedics had done their best and transported Kirk to a hospital nearby.
Help Is On The Way
Found At Last
According to the officers, they reported that Kirk was “in need of immediate medical attention” as they found him sprawled across the floor when they broke in. According to them, if even one more day had passed, it would have been too late for this man.
Found At Last
Astounding Reward
It looked as if Kirk had another stroke, but thankfully, the paramedics could resuscitate him. However, much information was missing and unanswered questions as no one had witnessed the situation to inform anyone about what was happening.
Astounding Reward
Lucky
The fact that they were able to find him just in time was like a miracle! Especially with the medical team on site was available to save him, and according to them, Kirk was going to recover fully. The Domino’s employees were all happy to learn that their hunch had paid off, and their loyal customer was going to be fine.
Lucky
All Together
Fuller said in an interview, “We’re like a family here, and we were glad we were able to do something to help. We hope he’s able to recover from this fully.” The employees were happy that they decided to follow their instincts.
Help Recover
Seiber, another employee, said, “We want to give him flowers, cards. Hopefully, help him recover faster, knowing that people do care about him.” It is very inspiring to see how various people would band together and be willing to help in unfortunate situations.
Help Recover
First Day
Seiber also added to the previous statement she had given, “The first day we saw him, he was a little out of it, just yes and no questions, and then I went back on Monday, and he was doing a lot better.”
First Day
Recovery
Adding more to the statement, “We saw him yesterday, and he had been moved to the rehabilitation center at the hospital, and he was saying a little bit more.” She had truly been by his side and showing him support.
Recovery
Very Tired
She went on to say, “He’s still exhausted, but he seems to be doing a lot better and making a recovery.” Jenny Fouracre, director of public relations at Domino’s headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, released a statement about this event, saying that this is exactly what Domino’s customer service is about.
Very Tired
Proud Of The Team
Fouracre said, “We are proud of our team members who took the initiative to reach out and help a regular customer who was in distress. There are thousands of Domino’s stores across the country, but every store is really a part of their neighborhood, delivering to people in their homes, which means we often get to know our customers well.”
Proud Of The Team
Many Stories
She also went on to say, “We have many stories of how our stores have helped regular customers in ways that are big and small over the years, which is a level of customer service and commitment to our communities that we hope everyone will emulate.”
Many Stories
Doing Their Job
According to Fuller, they believe that they were not heroes because of what they did. She said, “I think we were doing our job checking in on someone we know who orders a lot. We felt like we needed to do something.”
Doing Their Job
Inspiring
The Domino’s workers had demonstrated so much compassion and humility that it was an incredible sight. This is why the media did not have any second thoughts about blowing up the story to spread it across the country. It wasn’t over just yet, though.
Inspiring