Becoming a parent is a daunting prospect. Are you ready to raise a child? Will the baby be healthy? Do you have enough money to have a child? For waitress Courtney English, these questions were a reality. She was pregnant with her first child and was worried about being a good enough mother.
But she chose to take action, particularly with her financial situation. She started saving for the baby's birth, although it wasn't easy and was going pretty slow. But then one day the act of a police officer changed the course of her saving and made a difference to her baby's life.
Making Money As A Waitress
For Courtney English, being a waitress was just a stepping stone in her life. She loved doing it and loved the people she worked with. But it was a thankless job with long hours on her feet and some pretty uncouth customers. But not all of them are bad.
There are regulars and some friendly newbies who treat her with respect. These are usually the ones who tip healthily. The minimum wage for tipped employees like waitresses varies from state to state, and in New Jersey, where English works, that wage is roughly $10 an hour. This is a combined minimum wage, which includes tip credit and the wage.
Why The Need For More Income?
Everyone would like to earn more money. But for Courtney English, there was an added reason why. This is because, in February 2019, she was eight months pregnant, and was trying to save some money to have some extra funds for when the baby was born.
The diner she worked in was known as the Lamp Post Diner, in New Jersey, and she was well respected there. Even the owner, Nick Honas, said she is a sweet girl who goes the extra mile to keep customers happy. But with a baby on the way she needed more than compliments to get her by.
Earning Tips
Courtney was just 23 years old. But she had the sense enough to know that she was going to have to save to make the best life for her and her baby. Although he was supportive, she was no longer with the baby's father, and she wanted to be independent, regardless of his contribution.
In America roughly 80% of single parents are mothers, and of this stat, roughly 34% have not been married, like Courtney. While she wasn't with the father of the baby, she was living with her father, who provided excellent support for her.
Beyond Being A Waitress
While she loves what she does, and enjoys her work and the people she does it with, Courtney English knew that she couldn't be a waitress forever. She is ambitious and was hoping to achieve her GED and go on to become a nurse.
As a nurse, she would start learning considerably more than she is as a waitress. According to Indeed.com, even a nursing assistant earns at least $17 per hour. A nurse, based on five salary checks, earns roughly $41. There are also various benefits and perks ranging from health insurance to educational allowances. In some instances even bonuses.
But For Now, Being A Waitress Has To Do
She loved her baby more than anything, even before the little one was born. Even though she wasn't earning a great deal, she knew she could make at least a little saving just by working extra hours and making some extra tips too. Plus she had a support system at the restaurant.
She loved working with the people at the Lamp Post Diner Even patrons knew her and about her pregnancy. This helped a great deal with tips since generous and sympathetic customers tended to tip more and better. She just wanted to be the best mom possible.
Just Another Day At The Office
While she had all of these plans for her baby and her bank account, her days at the diner were following a regular routine. But on 15 February 2019, despite nothing looking out of the ordinary, things were going to go differently and affect her saving along the way.
She was well into her pregnancy and carrying around a considerable bump already. She was roughly 32 weeks pregnant, and, according to parents.com, as a first-time mother was likely to carry until 41 weeks, unlike second or third-time parents who carry until up to 40 weeks.
It's A Busy Day
The Lamp Post Diner is a popular eatery in New Jersey and gets pretty busy during the day. This is particularly the case during the peak hours like breakfast and lunchtime. For Courtney, this is good for business, since she gets to work multiple tables simultaneously.
This is good for her tip jar in particular, which is why she didn't mind working despite being pregnant, carrying a considerably large and visible bump, and having to be on maternity leave already. She was a friendly waitress who loved to make conversation, but also knew when to keep to herself with certain customers.
Another Person Serving
While Courtney was busy serving her customers, another person who also served people took a diner seat was a cop and he was sitting in the corner seat pretty much on his own. This is the kind of customer she identifies as nontalkative.
Hence she took a more back seat approach when serving him, sticking to small talk and the essentials about his orders. She was also pretty busy with lots of tables to work, so she was grateful that she didn't have to make conversation. She couldn't stop noticing him though.
He Was Also An Observant Cop
And the cop kept noticing her too, although, she wasn't that hard to miss. Despite not having time to chat due to her workload, She was still quite cheerful and chatty. This was something he says he admired about her and was also something that helped him learn about her.
Being observant is, of course, the hallmark of a good police officer, and as such he was making some pretty interesting observations about Courtney English. This includes listening to her conversation with the table next to his, where she was talking about how excited she is for her first baby.
He Has Good Listening Skills Too
Besides that, he also overheard that she was trying to save as much as possible before the baby was born. He was good at eavesdropping too since Courtney didn't even notice that he was listening in, and shared her story with the people at the next table.
But he also needed to get back to work. In most states, police officers get a 60-minute lunch break. Although that is also dependent on how busy they are with calls and how they deal with patrols. This period also varies between states.
Not A Bad Bill At All
Although it's unclear whether the police officer got a discount on his meal, it's known that he paid $8.75 for a salad. But did you know that the tradition of the police getting coffee and donuts stems from the idea that the police would in turn respond quickly should trouble brew?
Even without a discount, that was a fairly decent price for a salad, and the cop was ready to go on the beat again. He paid by card and got ready to leave. Courtney was still busy so wasn't paying attention to the bill and the machine. But she was attentive enough to courteously see the cop off.
An Amazing Tip
After a while, Courtney returned to the policeman's table to collect the bill and clear it for the next customer coming in. She didn't think much about it until she noticed something amazing on the receipt, he had left her a tip, but it wasn't just a regular tip.
He had left her a $100 tip, over and above the $8.75 his salad cost. It took her a few glances to notice it and to let it sink in. But eventually, it did, and she was over the moon for that healthy tip. The police officer had also left her a message on the receipt.
A Message of Hope And Inspiration
The message read, “Enjoy your first. You will never forget it.” and Courtney was overwhelmed with emotions. Then it hit her: How did he know that this was her first child? It's clear as crystal that she's pregnant and close to popping, but there's no way of seeing it's her first.
Perplexed, she retraced her evening to see where he may have picked up on this being her first child. He was a cop so it could just be intuition, but then it hit her like a ton of bricks... he heard her story when she was speaking to the customers at the table next to his.
The $100 Diner Challenge
It's unclear whether this is related, but in 2019 there was a viral campaign known as the "$100 Diner Challenge." The idea was to share some holiday cheer, but it also entailed groups eating out at diners specifically. It's also meant that each person on the group leaves a $100 tip.
It could've been massive for Courtney if the cop had brought in a few colleagues to contribute to his generosity if indeed he was doing the "$100 Diner Challenge." But the waitress was still grateful for his contribution to her savings and was a little overwhelmed too.
Tugging At Her Heart Strings
An emotional mess, due to the overwhelming gesture from the policeman, Courtney burst into tears. It was uncontrollable, and she went to her boss's office to tell him what had happened. Although some may have blamed this on pregnancy emotions, That was unlikely since this is more prominent in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Either way, the owner must have thought this, or that something else terrible had happened when she ran to him in tears. He must have been relieved when she told him what really happened. although, he wasn't surprised, since she was an exceptional waitress.
Need To Give A Personal Thank You
After her tears started drying up she felt like she needed to thank the cop, the only problem is that he was long gone. When she went outside there wasn't a police car in sight and she thought she had missed her opportunity. But she wasn't going to give up that easily.
She waited until her shift ended, and went to her local police department to see if she could find the policeman. The only thing standing in her way with that mission is: did the policeman want to be found? He seemed pretty inconspicuous after all.
Taking The Online Route
Courtney was very determined to find him though. Her father was just as determined too, after hearing about the great gesture the policeman had made. He took to social media in his quest to find the man who contributed so swimmingly to his daughter's baby savings.
But his message wasn't just a quick shout-out to the policeman, or one of those "if you see this please contact" messages. As a father, he chose to show his respect and appreciation with his post, and also show the world that not all police officers are as bad as people think.
How Great Are Cops
One thing he brought across in his message is that, despite picking up a bad reputation over the years for isolated incidents, not all cops are bad. American police have been particularly demonized thanks to the acts of certain policemen like George Zimmerman, who was involved in the shooting death of African American teen Trayvon Martin in 2013.
This spawned the black lives matter movement, which has since been highlighting police brutality and gained worldwide popularity. But Courtney's father's message focused on the challenges of being a cop, the horrors they deal with and the strength it takes for them to do it each day.
The Message Was Powerful And Popular
While his message was powerful, it was also quite popular and garnered some amazing responses in the comments section. The story of the policeman's kindness towards Courtney was even so popular that it garnered some 10,000 reactions (likes, hearts, etc). It also garnered over 1,000 comments.
But the most impressive stat it garnered, was that it was shared roughly 3,500 times, making it a viral post. Many people commented about how beautiful the story is, and how it's important to respect policemen, and how inspired they were by the post and the story.
Becoming An Even More Popular Waitress
The post also had a positive effect on Courtney's career. Oh, she was still a waitress, but many more people recognized her and came to eat at the place where the bubbly waitress worked. This meant more tips, but there was also another positive that came from this.
The diner received hundreds of phone calls from people all wanting to contribute to Courtney's baby saving. This was an overwhelming response, which blew the waitress away. But despite all of this, she still had no word from the cop who kickstarted the entire process.
Choosing To Remain Anonymous
The story had gotten so big that it even made the pages of the New York Post, People Magazine, and Today.com. Surely, this meant the cop knew about how his act of kindness had affected Courtney and her baby savings account. Yet he still didn't come forward to claim his gratification.
So instead, Courtney and her father went back to the Voorhees Police Department and took a box of donuts to them. The cops at the department were pleased to receive the gift and even acknowledged it on their Twitter account. They also promised to notify the generous anonymous cop.
And Then There Was A Baby
Not long after the visit to the police department, Courtney gave birth to a baby girl. The child is named Kayleigh and was born healthy and happy, with a nice little savings nest egg to boot. In an interview with today, Courtney said she was going to use the money for small day-to-day purchases.
These include things like pacifiers, blankets, and washcloths among other things. In the end, she was a dedicated and smart enough mother to start saving early for her baby, something many other single mothers fail to do, to their detriment. Thanks to a good-hearted cop, there was $100 more to contribute to Kayleigh's infancy.