A New Jersey police officer’s kind gesture is going viral on social media after he left a $100 tip and a kind message for a pregnant waitress working to save money to raise her child.
The anonymous officer with the Voorhees Police Department left a $100 tip on an $8.75 bill for his Friday meal at the Lamp Post Diner, along with a heartwarming message on the receipt, the Cherry Hill Courier-Post reported.
“Enjoy ur 1st. You will never forget it,” the message read.
A fellow waitress then called over her colleague, Courtney English, 23, to the cash register share the news about the officer’s act of generosity, NJ.com reported.
By the time English learned of the officer’s kind gesture, the officer had already left the restaurant and she did not get a chance to thank him.
English’s father, Brian Cadigan, shared the receipt containing the message on Facebook along with a message thanking the officer for his random act of kindness.
“I don’t know you, Mr. Police Officer, but you made my little girl cry and made her year,” Cadigan wrote. “Thank you. I always had the utmost respect for officers, but you went above and beyond not just an officer, but a beautiful human being. God Bless.”
His post went viral, gaining more than 7,800 Facebook reactions and at least 2,900 shares by Monday morning.
English said she worked at the diner for two years on and off, but this tip “stunned” her because she never spoke about her pregnancy with the officer.
“We didn’t really even talk. I brought him his menu, he ordered a salad and I got it for him,” English said. “I was telling the people at the table behind him that it was my first baby.”
“I respect all officers, so I mean it just gives me a higher respect for them and their job. So it was just really awesome,” English told CBS Philly.
The 23-year-old mother-to-be said she will continue to work at the diner until the end of the month, to give her time before her baby’s expected due date on April 1.