Man leaves anonymous $1,000 tip for college-bound waitress

GUN BARREL CITY, Texas – A customer eating alone at a Texas restaurant left a big surprise behind for an 18-year-old waitress – a $1,000 tip.

Alesha Palmer, 18, says she was so stunned by the gift she burst into tears in Vetoni’s Italian Restaurant in Gun Barrel City, a small community about 50 miles southeast of Dallas.

The high school senior told Tyler television station KLTV that she was serving a couple she knew last weekend and they asked about her college plans.

She says she told them her parents would be helping her pay for it.

Another customer seated nearby got up to leave and approached the restaurant owner.

She says after he left, she asked if everything was all right and her boss showed her the receipt for the $9 meal with the $1,000 tip from the man, who asked to remain anonymous.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Man leaves anonymous $1,000 tip for college-bound waitress."