16-year-old cashier in shock after receiving $2,500 tip from customer

A Missouri teen cashier at a pizza restaurant was surprised with a $2,500 tip after a customer applauded his service. 16-year-old Ryheem Lumpkins, a student at William Chrisman High School, has been handling payments and receipts at the Independence Pizza Ranch for close to a month now and usually sweeps and wipes down the buffet when he is not doing his cashier duties, ABC7 News reported.

The platform said Lumpkins is often quiet and reserved but gets excited when he sees new people while working. A month ago, one of those new people, Robert Samay, gave Lumpkins a $5 tip after observing how Lumpkins conducted himself. This Tuesday, Samay returned to the pizza restaurant with a friend and the two gave 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.