Generous Customer Gives Nebraska Bakery $2,000 Tip On $5 Bill

The employees of a bakery in Nebraska couldn't believe their luck when a generous customer left them a tip of $2,000 after purchasing pastries worth $5.

The customer, identified as Nicholas, bought two turnovers at The Omaha Bakery in Bellevue on Friday. Preston Rath, an employee at the bakery, rang up the order as any other day. But this time, he was actually in for a surprise: The customer gave a $2,000 tip.

When Rath informed the customer that he had indicated a wrong amount and asked him to correct it, Nicholas turned the screen back to the employee and insisted that there was no mistake.

"I was like, 'That's wrong, you put too much of a tip in there.' And he goes, 'If you don't hit OK, I'm going to reach around and hit OK,'" Rath recalled as per KETV.

Nicholas told Rath that he wanted to support a "locally owned small business" that just opened.

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The Omaha Bakery wrote about Nicolas' good deed in a Facebook post, noting, "We want Nicholas to know just how much we appreciate this kind and selfless gesture. He truly understands the importance of keeping local businesses alive during these challenging times."

The post also said that the entire bakery team was "in shock from this extraordinary act of kindness and generosity."

The generous tip will be divided among the store's hourly workers, according to Michelle Kaiser, owner of the bakery.

Kaiser reached out to the man, who again reiterated that he hadn't made any mistake. The customer told her that the tip was paid using an inheritance fund left by his grandfather. He added that he had seen the staff working hard and was impressed by their customer service.

"He knew that it had been a rough time with COVID. He knew that people were struggling in general. He noticed our staff was working really, really hard," KETV quoted Kaiser as saying.

"He said there was so much negativity today and so many bad things going on that he wanted to make a difference," Kaiser also said in an interview with KPVI. "He wanted to make people feel appreciated and show that he saw them."