A heavily pregnant server working at a diner was taken aback by the kindness of a police officer, who left a generous message - and an even more generous tip - on her receipt.
23-year-old Courtney English is around seven months pregnant - expecting her first child on April 1. During her latest shift at the Lamp Post Diner in Clementon, New Jersey, where she works as she tries to save up ahead of her imminent parenthood, she got a message of support from the officer who served her, as well as a little extra to help the expecting mother out.
Speaking to Patch, English expressed her gratitude to the server, who left her a $100 tip on a meal that came to $8.75 (a gratuity of around 1,140 percent), and left the young woman a message that said: "Enjoy ur 1st [sic], you will never forget it."
"I'm just really grateful for this officer's kindness," English said, revealing that the officer (who wishes to remain anonymous) had said nothing to her about it at the time, leaving the tip without so much as a word. "It's truly a blessing to come across people like him and I'm forever thankful for that."
According to the manager of the Lamp Post Diner, the officer's speed is nothing new. "If he’s in the area he stops in. Doesn’t say much but a really nice guy. He usually just eats alone and leaves," Mark Patete said of the police officer who's a regular at the diner, revealing that he works at the Voorhees Township Police Department.
“We didn’t really even talk. I brought him his menu, he ordered a salad and I got it for him," English said, revealing that she thought the officer had seen her struggle due to her advanced pregnancy. “I was telling the people at the table behind him that it was my first baby.”
Equally as chuffed was her father and soon-to-be grandfather Brian Cadigan, who took to Facebook to post a lengthy tribute to the as-yet-unidentified police officer who's helped his daughter out so much. "It’s not the amount, it’s the humanity of it," he said in an interview with 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.'"
"I don't know you, Mr. Police Officer, but you made my little girl cry, and made her year," Cadigan wrote in a lengthy and emotional Facebook post, snapping a photo of the receipt in question. "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."
Voorhees Police Chief Louis Bordi revealed that the officer wishes to remain anonymous, but English said her thank-yous anyway. "It really means a lot. It’s been really hard saving for the past couple months, so it was really, really amazing," Courtney English said.
