A teen pizza parlor employee from Missouri was “speechless” after a customer gave him a $2,500 tip.
Ryheem Lumpkins, a 16-year-old student at William Chrisman High School whose hands and arms never fully developed, runs the cash register, sweeps the floors, and wipes down the buffet at the Pizza Ranch location in Independence, according to CBS affiliate KCTV.
In the process, he also made a good impression on Robert Samay.
“I appreciate your hard work, your good smile, your good attitude,” Samay told the teen, per the outlet. “We don’t get that nowadays, especially with young kids.”
Last month, Samay gave the teen a $5 tip. On Tuesday, he returned to give him a significantly larger thank you.
“I never had nothing in my life that had happened to me like that before,” Lumpkins told KCTV. “To be honest, I was speechless.”
For Lumpkins, who is saying to buy his first car, the money is nice, but the meaning behind the gesture means even more.
“That right there showed me that there’s more people in the world that really cares for me,” he told the station.
His goal is to to be a motivational speaker for kids.
“Embrace what you have different from other people,” he said. “Because a lot of people think it’s cool and a lot of people wouldn’t think it’s cool. The negative words, don’t let it get to your head. Because there is a lot of positivity in the world.”
Soucre: people.com
