One man, a total stranger, completely changed a homeless single mom’s life with the giant tip he left her at her job. And this isn’t the first time he’s done something so generous either.
Earlier this month a man visited a Denny’s in Utah and asked specifically if he could be waited on by a single mother. What happened next will restore your faith in humanity.
The man, who was seated in a single mom named Crystal’s section, sat there for two hours. Seven families came into the restaurant and each time he paid their bills for them. Then, after running up a bill of just $21.34 for himself he left the waitress a tip of $1,500.
What he didn’t know was that Crystal was living in a homeless shelter with her son, trying to save up enough money to get her own place. This tip made that possible.
Here’s the post from Facebook that went viral thanks to just how inspiring the story is…
It reads…
Today I met an angel. You came into a Denny’s I work at in Utah. You asked me, ‘Can I have a waitress who is a single mother?’ I thought it was very odd, but I sat you in Crystal’s section. You sat there for 2 hours just watching people. 7 families came in and ate while you were there and you paid every one of their bills, over $1,000 you paid for people you didn’t even know. I asked, ‘Why did you do that?’ You simply said, ‘Family is everything, I’ve lost all mine.’ Looking into your eyes while you said that made me tear up (It’s why I walked away so quickly) as soon as I got in the back I broke down in tears because your eyes had so much pain in them. I just wanted to let you know, the waitress Crystal that you requested was living in a shelter with her son until she was able to save up enough to get a place. Your bill was $21.34 and you left her a $1,500 tip, because of you she gets her new place next week, because of you 7 families ate for free. Crystal told me she prayed the night before for a miracle and God sent you. You left before any of us could say thank you, I hope you read this because you’re truly an amazing person and you stole the hearts of every one of us here. Thank you.
Dateline NBC caught wind of this story and tracked the man down who made such an impact on this woman’s life…
“I’ve done this many times, but this is the one that got out,” the man, who asked only to be identified as Briggs, told Dateline.
Briggs says that the report of him paying over $1,000 for the seven families’ meals was exaggerated a bit, but it still amounted to over $600.
As for why he specifically chose to help out a single mother…
“I grew up with a single mother of six. We were poor and homeless a lot,” Briggs told Dateline. “I watched and suffered for years as I watched her work her hands to the bone to give us a good life. She raised us to be kind and help others. Many years down the road, I was facing prison and getting in trouble. It ended up causing me to lose my family because I was a really terrible person.”
Briggs says he eventually turned his life around. He has opened his own business and become a success.
“Now I’ve been helping others as I was raised to do,” he says. “Now it’s time to pay it back.”
Kind of puts things into perspective a little bit, huh?
Very cool, Briggs, very cool.
H/T Some eCards; Tip image by Shutterstock