A waitress working at a Waffle House in Tennessee was hoping to earn a bit of extra money to help pay for a family trip. After serving two young male customers, she was left speechless — and what they did next made her feel “sick to her stomach,” but in the best way possible.
(Photo Credit: Facebook)
Lauren Ball had just hosted a birthday party for her son — which drained the remaining cash she had in her bank account. During her usual overnight shift, Lauren, a Waffle House waitress, was hoping to make enough money to help fund a trip to Florida with her family. She figured she’d be lucky to earn $30 that night. But something unexpected happened.
As she served two young men, Lauren shared that her father was planning to take her and her son, Colton White, to the beach as a graduation gift. She had recently finished her degree at National College in Bristol, Tennessee. “I was pretty bummed to think that my dad was going to have to pay for everything at the beach,” Ball admitted.
After exchanging a few laughs with the two diners, Lauren stepped outside to take a quick break. One of the men came out and mentioned that his friend was about to leave a very generous tip — though she didn’t believe it at first. A moment later, the second man joined them and showed his friend a photo of the tip he’d left.
Soon after, the cook came outside to verify the amount on the receipt. The man confirmed it was correct. When Lauren walked back inside, she was stunned: the customer had left her a $600 tip on a $24 bill. “It took my breath away. It made me sick to my stomach — but in a good way,” she recalled. “When I saw that it said $600, I started hysterically crying. That’s like three paychecks!”
Lauren Ball
Lauren Ball holding the receipt with the $600 tip. (Photo Credit: Facebook)
Tears running down her face, Lauren approached the generous stranger. She had never experienced anything like this before and needed to know why he had chosen to help her. His reply was simple: he enjoys doing kind things for good people. “The fact that someone would do something so nice for me — it’s just the craziest thing to me,” Lauren said.
Having spent nearly all her money to make her son’s birthday special, the generous tip came at a perfect time. With little support from her son’s father, who was unemployed, Lauren does her best to take care of her family on her own. “I cried and told him he was an angel,” she said. “He’ll never know how much that meant to me.”
Stories like these serve as powerful reminders that goodness still exists in the world. Sometimes, the urge to help someone out is more than a random thought — it may be a sign to take action. As the story above illustrates, small acts of kindness often come exactly when someone needs them most.
When we follow through with the desire to help, we not only lift others up — we often find purpose and joy in the process. The world needs more compassion, and stories like Lauren’s prove just how far it can go.