Shantaphae Blakes, a single mother, found herself in an unfortunate situation: it was 4:30 a.m., she was about to leave for work, and she had no one to watch her little daughter. Shantaphae, a dedicated Starbucks employee in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, called her employer to explain the situation.
Her manager was sympathetic to her predicament and urged her to bring her child to work and they’d figure something out. Fortunately, two unexpected volunteers stepped in to look for Shantaphae’s kid while she worked: a couple of state troopers.
Troopers Brad Marshall and Austin White happened to be regulars of the Starbucks where Shantaphae worked. The two men found out about her dilemma and stepped in to act as babysitters while the busy mom finished her shift.
Her manager explained the entire situation on her Facebook page:
I wanted to send a special shoutout to our very own North Carolina State Highway Patrol. This was the sight at my Starbucks on University Parkway in Winston Salem, NC today. I had an employee call me in tears at 4:30 AM and tell me she had no one to take care of her daughter this morning as she was already on her way in to work. I told her to not worry, we would figure it out and to bring her on.
Shortly thereafter, our regular crew of troopers rolled in the door and took this sweet girl right into their care for over an hour. Trooper Brad and one of his fellow partners were outstanding in making sure we could still get our job done and even had a little fun with it. He even bought her a cup that she had been holding on to all morning. This is what the holidays are all about and it made my heart melt to see this unfold today.
Thank you, Brad and NC State Troopers everywhere, you guys rock!
During an interview with WXII12, Shantaphae expressed her gratitude.
“The fact that he was true with her for like, two hours touched me.” He had her nonstop for two hours. He was adamant about not putting her down. [He] was chasing her and playing with her.”
The cops were overjoyed at the prospect of babysitting the adorable little child.
Said Trooper Brad Marshall, “I just played with her until they figured out what they were going to do. [She] was well behaved, she was very playful, so it was not a problem.”
They even said the little girl gave them a sense of peace and calm in a job that is typically hectic.
This adorable news story is a nice reminder that there are awesome police officers out there to lend a hand — even in the most unusual of circumstances.
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