Holly MatkinGloucester, NJ – An expectant mother working as a waitress in a diner was shocked to learn that a Voorhees Township police officer left her a huge tip and a note before he wordlessly left the restaurant on Friday.
Waitress Courtney English, 23, is expecting her first child on April 1, NJ Advance Media reported.
She was serving the Lamp Post Diner’s bustling lunch crowd when the anonymous officer stopped in for a quick meal.
“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.”
When he finished up, the officer paid his bill at the register and left the diner.
It wasn’t until later that the young waitress learned of his generous act of kindness.
“Enjoy ur 1st,” he jotted on his bill, along with a $100 tip. “You will never forget it.”
English said she was so touched by his gesture, it brought her to tears. She wanted to thank him, but he was already gone and she never had the chance, she said.
“I’m just really grateful for this officer’s kindness,” English told the Gloucester Township Patch. “It’s truly a blessing to come across people like him and I’m forever thankful for that.”
Her father, Brian Cadigan, said that English is working hard to save as much money as she can before her baby arrives.
Cadigan snapped a photo of the officer’s note and posted it to Facebook to show his family’s appreciation for the selfless act of kindness.
“This officer, who I am sure works his butt off for his paycheck, left her a $100 tip on a $9.00 ticket,” the grateful grandfather-to-be explained.
“It’s not the amount, it’s the humanity of it,” Cadigan told NJ Advance Media. “He saw she was struggling and a young girl. She was working in a diner while pregnant, standing with that kind of weight on her, and it was his way of saying, ‘I understand your struggle.’”
He said that the officer’s note was the most touching part of the entire gesture.
“It was from the heart. It really touched her,” Cadigan told the Courier Post. “There have been plenty of situations where she got a nice tip, but just the little remark was what got her.”
“You always hear about how Bad the Police are, How They treated you like dirt, how they are on a Power Trip,” Cadigan wrote in the Facebook post. “I am sure there are some bad apples, but most of them are just doing their jobs, they deal with the worst of society every day and have to keep going back everyday and deal with it all over again. They risk their lives each day just to do their job.”
“Most of the good stuff they do you will never hear about,” he continued. They don’t do it for glory or recognition, they do it because they are good people.”
The post had been shared thousands of times.
“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 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.”
English said she is expecting a little girl, and that she has already named her Kayleigh, NJ Advance Media reported.
The officer wishes to remain anonymous, Voorhees Police Chief Louis Bordi said.