Robert Burrows was doing his job when he stopped what he was doing and went to the aid of a choking child.

For his efforts, Burrows has been praised as a hero.

He was working his usual shift over the lunch rush at Taco Bell, 8760 Wadsworth Blvd., in Arvada. He sweeps and mops floors, picks up trash others leave behind, swabs down tables, refills napkin containers.

In July, he did a lot more.

"I helped a little kid," Burrows said. "He was choking on food. I got me a bunch of napkins. I tapped him on his little back. He was holding napkins so he could spit it out. He had a tomato caught in his little throat."

Burrows is developmentally disabled. He is a client of Laradon Hall, which helps educate and find jobs for people like him.

Burrows, 58, is one of those guys snooty people find easier to look past than look at. That's their problem. He has a shy smile that widens when he's comfortable around someone.

Laradon Hall officials gave Burrows a certificate and a check. A Taco Bell shift manager sent a letter to Tracey Benner, Burrows' employment coordinator, alerting her to the act of kindness and heroism.

Burrows didn't go into the Taco Bell store to apply for a job for real. He was on a practice run with Benner. He was supposed to go in and ask for an application so when he went into a place for real, he wouldn't be nervous.

But the manager hired him on the spot, Benner said.

So Burrows works about four hours a day, seven days a week. And he likes it.

Benner helped Burrows with his duties by pasting computerized pictures. So a mop next to another picture of a soft-drink cup means Burrows should mop up around the soft-drink fountain.

He likes to work. But he walked off a job once - before he signed on with Taco Bell. He was mopping and sweeping at a gas station. A new manager came in and let co-workers make very unkind remarks to Burrows.

"I told him he could take this job and shove it," Burrows said.

It's out of character for someone so nice to say such a thing. But Burrows had had his fill of rudeness.

"He left with dignity," Benner said.

He likes the Taco Bell job. There's a fringe benefit he likes.

"I get to drink pop," he said.

But there's another benefit he likes more - quarters and nickels on the ground outside in the drive-through lane. Burrows was sweeping outside when he found some change. He immediately turned it over to the manger on duty, who told Burrows if he found it on the ground, it was his.

"One time, I found a $5 bill," Burrows said. "I asked this guy if he lost it. He said yes and thank you for noticing. The guy told me I could keep it. I thanked him for it."