An Irish waiter working in an American restaurant got an early Christmas gift when a customer tipped him $750 to bring his new family home for the holidays.

Ben Millar (22) was serving diners in a restaurant in Houston, Texas when he received a very generous gratuity.

Expand Close The receipt showing the kind message and generous tip / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The receipt showing the kind message and generous tip

His girlfriend Taryn Keith (21), who is eight months pregnant, said it couldn’t have happened to a “better guy”.

The Belfast man had been planning on a trip to Ireland once their son, Killian, is born and had been sharing his story with a customer who decided to help him out.

Taryn told Independent.ie that the pair had been chatting about U2.

"The customer informed Ben that he had just been in Ireland to see the band. Ben, jokingly said, 'Wow, I wish I could go back there for a weekend and visit my family', thinking nothing of it."

But when he went to collect the bill he was shocked to discover that the customer had left him a $750 (€706) tip, along with a hand-written note which read: “Hopefully, this can get you back to Ireland for the holidays”.

His immediate reaction was "Holy sh**!"

The customer, whose name is Jeffrey, left so fast that Ben never got the chance to thank him for his kind-hearted gesture.

The couple hope that by sharing the story, Jeffrey will see how much his generosity meant to them.

Taryn said that the family hope to visit Ireland when their son Killian is born.

"The due date is January 20 so we will be heading to Ireland as soon as my son is old enough to fly," she said.

"I think it's a blessing and it couldn't have happened to a better guy than him. He works really hard.

"He's pretty stressed right now with money and the baby coming, so this just made his whole year. It's good to know that there are kind people in the world."

Online Editors