Customer surprises pregnant waitress with very generous tip

A 23-year-old mum-to-be was waiting tables at a New Jersey diner last week when she was left shocked by one customer’s generous gift.

Courtney English was speaking to a group of customers about expecting her first child, a girl who is due April 1. Another customer, a local cop who has chosen to remain anonymous, evidently overheard the conversation.

And while he didn’t comment on waitress Courtney’s pregnancy during his meal at the Lamp Post Diner, the generous tip he left behind has blown her away.

Courtney discovered the officer – whom her manager describes as a “really nice guy” who “usually just eats alone and leaves” – left a $100 ($140) tip on his $8.75 ($12) bill, NJ Advance Media reported.

His handwritten note explains the generosity: “Enjoy your first. You will never forget it.”

Courtney and her family won’t forget this act of kindness, either. Her father, Brian Cadigan, shared his gratitude in a post on Facebook, noting that he wanted to share a positive story about a police officer.

“My daughter is a waitress at a local diner,” Brian wrote. “She is also 7 months pregnant and working still to save as much money as she can. This will be her first child and she is so excited.

“Yesterday she was working the lunch shift when a Voorhees [Township] police officer came in… [He] went to the cashier and paid his bill, and left a note on the bill for my daughter. This officer, who I am sure works his butt off for his paycheck, left her a $100 tip.

“What a wonderful person to not only leave a VERY generous tip, but a lovely message. I don’t know you Mr. Police Officer, but you made my little girl cry, and made her year,” Cadigan added. “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.”

Courtney, who plans to name her daughter Kayleigh, said the large tip took her aback.

“We didn’t really even talk,” she told NJ Advance Media. “I brought him his menu, he ordered a salad and I got it for him. I was telling the people at the table behind him that it was my first baby.”

Though the officer reportedly wishes to keep his identity secret, he and Courtney apparently have something in common: parenthood. According to Courtney, the officer has himself recently welcomed his first child.

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