Kasey couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a handwritten note on the table. "My mother did not need you to help her," the note began.
His small act of kindness had backfired him badly.
Meet Kasey Simmons
Kasey Simmons was working at Applebee's in Dallas, Texas, and his restaurant was often short-staffed. That day, he was the only server in the diner as two of his coworkers called in sick.
As he was loading the dishwasher, he saw a lady walk in.
An Elderly Lady
The woman sat down with her family and waited for Kasey to take their order.
After a few minutes, he approached the family and said, "Hey, my name's Kasey. "I'm just letting you know that I am so far behind, and I'm in the weeds right now."
Busy Day
Then he explained to them that he would only be able to serve them in 45 minutes, as the restaurant was packed.
He thought they would understand, but he was mistaken.
Complaints
Kasey tried to make it up to the family by offering them free drinks, but they didn't take him up on his offer.
Then, to make matters worse, other customers began complaining. They weren't happy with the speed at which Kasey was serving them.
On His Own
Kasey asked his boss if he could get some help, but his request was denied. He was on his own.
Seeing how busy the diner was, the lady told Kasey that they wouldn't be ordering any food, but they would like to share a bottle of flavored water. He felt horrible. The family had been waiting for over an hour just to receive their drinks, and now they weren't going to eat. Sadly, his day was about to get even worse.
Splitting The Bill
The bill for the flavored water came to just 74 cents.
She asked Kasey if she could split the total on two credit cards. He thought her request was strange, but he obliged and went to grab the credit card machine.
A Note
But when he went back to the woman and her family, he realized that they had left without paying.
Kasey feared that the customers had left in a rush, angry that it had taken him so long to serve them. But then he saw a handwritten note on the receipt.
$500.37
There, the woman had written $500.37. Next to the note was a stack of cash and coins.
Kasey counted it, and it equaled the amount written on the note. He couldn't believe his eyes as he counted the money one more time. Then, he saw another letter.
"Thank You"
The note read, "On behalf of the Sullivan family, I want to thank you for being the person you are."
"On one of the most depressing days of the year (the death of my father's three-year anniversary), you made my mother's day wonderful. She has been smiling since you did what you did." The next sentence made him tear up.
Earlier That Day
He remembered seeing an elderly woman in Kroger earlier that day. She looked visibly upset.
"I noticed there was a lady standing in front of me," he recalls. "It looked like she had been crying because once in a while, she'd glance over to me." So, he decided to do something nice for her.
A Beautiful Lady
"I go up to her and say, 'It's not raining inside. There's no reason to look so down. I'm sure you have a beautiful smile because you are a beautiful lady,' "asey continued.
"It looked like she had a bad day. She kind of shut me down a little bit. I wanted to make her at least grin a little bit, and it wasn't happening," Kasey told ABC News.
Staying In Touch
Then, he offered to pay for her groceries to make her day a little easier. The woman didn't want him to pay at first, but then she agreed. Her total came to $17, and Kasey paid for it with his debit card.
After paying for her groceries, Kasey handed the lady his Applebee business card and told her to contact him if she needed any help. Little did he know, his good deed was about to backfire on him.
A Horrible Day
"Every time I get to work, I say, 'It's a great day. I'm going to make some friends and make some money,'" Kasey explained.
"This day happened to be the worst day of my Applebee's career. I was having such a bad night that I was about to walk out of that place, and this lady comes in..."
Payback
It turned out that the woman who had left Kasey the generous tip was the elderly lady's daughter.
She wanted to repay him for helping her mother that day in the Kroger grocery store. “Her grocery was only $17.00, and you insisted on paying and told her she was a very beautiful woman... my mother did not need you to help her, but you made her year,” she wrote.