After a patron praised his service, a juvenile cashier in Missouri received a $2,500 tip from the pizza shop. Ryheem Lumpkins, 16, a William Chrisman High School student, has been taking payments and receipts at the Independence Pizza Ranch for about a month now. When he’s not working as a cashier, he typically sweeps and cleans the buffet, according to ABC7 News.
According to the platform, Lumpkins is typically quiet and reserved but gets enthusiastic when he comes across new people at work. One of those newcomers, Robert Samay, left Lumpkins a $5 tip a month ago after getting to know him. This past Tuesday, Samay and a companion went back to the pizzeria and left Lumpkins a $2,500 tip.
“To be honest, I was speechless. I never had nothing in my life that had happened to me like that before,” Lumpkins said to ABC7 News. “That right there showed me that there’s more people in the world that really cares for me.”
For Samay, “money comes and goes,” and “it’s rare to find someone like Ryheem,” he said. It was observed on the day Lumpkins was tipped that his hands and arms are not fully developed like most people but the young cashier doesn’t see that as a disability. “It don’t prevent me from nothing. If I feel like I can do it, I can do it,” he said, advising others to embrace what they have.
Lumpkins, who hopes to be a motivational speaker for kids like him, said he will put the cash in his savings account. The money will also help him to get his first car, which he had been saving for.
