Mom Praises Hotel Manager’s Kindness For Performing Card Tricks With Her Autistic Son

Mar 29, 2023 by apost team

As the manager of the Hampton Inn in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, Kahlief Hill is known for wearing many hats. But back in 2019, an interaction with a 13-year-old patron made Hill go beyond his typical responsibilities at work.

Colin Haas, the young lodger, approached the front desk on a Friday night and asked the hotel manager if he would like to see a card trick. This simple question led to the two becoming friends pretty quickly. For the next half hour, the two of them exchanged magic tricks.

The following evening, Colin once again appeared at the desk and confessed that he had already forgotten one magic trick Hill had taught him. Hill assured the young boy that he would gladly show him again. The two once again enjoyed sharing tricks and lively chatter at the front desk area.

After Colin turned in for the night, his mother, Megan Griffin Haas, tracked down Hill at his desk and told him that it is not too often that complete strangers treat Colin with such respect and kindness.

Hill did not know that the young lad has autism. Part of his method of focusing his brain is learning and performing card tricks. 

Colin had lost his father a few years prior, as he passed following a brain aneurysm in 2014, according to TODAY. Living with only his sister and mom, Colin has missed male interaction ever since his dad’s passing.

Hill could have easily turned the boy away when he wanted to share magic tricks, but he did not. He gave the child the sum of his attention, making him feel wholly appreciated and liked.

Colin missed having a male figure in his life. On top of that, he had been on a waiting list to secure a male mentor from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program for two years. This is why Hill’s kindness toward him meant so much to the Haas family.

"From the very first interaction, Kahlief was so friendly and nice," Megan Haas told Good Morning America. "We got to our room and Colin went right back out to see him."

Megan spoke more about the heartfelt moment with TODAY. “I always appreciate anybody that takes the time for anybody, but my son especially because (of) losing his dad and living with only me and his sister, he misses interacting with other males,” she explained.

The moment impacted Megan so much that she posted about it on Facebook, and her words about the random act of kindness went viral. Hill woke to hundreds of new friend requests from people from all over the world, and his manager, Jason Gabany, learned of his employee’s thoughtfulness as well.

Megan wrote about Hill and said:

“He paused when he needed to, when the phone rang or a customer came in, (in the pic he is on the phone, the person he was speaking to had him on hold), but he never once made Colin feel like he was a nuisance or a burden. In fact, when we saw that he had returned for another shift the following day, he made it a point to let Colin know he was geared up and ready to go with more card tricks.”

The mom concluded: I love and live for feel good moments like this. It is so easy to be kind, yet seems to be such a rare occurrence these days.”

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What did you think about this heartfelt story? When was the last time you helped brighten someone’s day? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones.