Rich Girl Mocks Poor Waiter until He Saves Her Father’s Life One Day – Story of the Day

Stacey was a rich girl who felt she didn't need to show kindness to anyone. She believed that her money made her immune from needing anyone. Until one day, she mocked a waiter for being poor without realizing that she would later need his kindness.

Stacey Bridges belonged to the wealthiest family in town. Everybody around her catered to her needs at every turn. She felt no need to be kind towards people and often ridiculed those she didn’t like. No one held her accountable for her mean behavior, and even if they tried, she ignored them.

One day, Stacey was leaving the mall after a day of shopping. While heading towards her car, she dropped her car keys without realizing it. A gentleman walking behind her saw this and rushed to give her keys back. “Ma’am, you dropped these,” he said while handing the keys back to her.

“Oh wow, thank you for my keys. I would’ve been stranded without them,” she joked.

“No worries, I’m glad I saw them. My name is John, by the way,” he replied. “I hope I’m not being too forward, but could I interest you to a coffee?”

Stacey was flattered because John was very handsome. “Sure, take my number,” she said and gave John her number before walking away, excited to go on a date with him.

The next day, Stacey met with her friends at a new, exclusive restaurant. “I can’t wait to try this place out, and I hear it has amazing food and an even better wine list,” Stacey said. Her friends agreed, and they sat down to enjoy their meal. Mira and Jen were the only friends Stacey had because they all treated people similarly.

“So ladies, I have something to tell you,” Stacey announced.

“Come out with it. Are you going on another vacation?” Mira asked.

“No, but I will be going on a date soon,” Stacey laughed.

Her friends squealed in excitement. “Tell me everything!” Jen asked.

“Well, we met yesterday when he saw my car keys fall out of my pocket,” Stacey said. “He handed them to me and asked to take me out for coffee. I gave him my number, so hopefully, he will text soon.”

Stacey’s friends started giving her outfit and hairstyle ideas. She hadn’t been on a date in a while, so they were excited for her. She dated Hank for five years, then she caught him cheating on her. After she broke up with him, she spent two years swearing off romance.

“What does he do for a living?” Mira asked.

“Do you think he’s a doctor or a businessman?” Jen asked

Before she could answer, Stacey looked up and recognized John in the restaurant. “Oh my word, you guys, I can’t believe this,” Stacey said.

“What’s the matter? Are you okay?” her friends asked.

“John is here,” Stacey whispered. “And he’s in a waiter’s uniform.”

Stacey pointed to him, and all three of them were shocked to discover that Stacey had been excited to go on a date with a waiter. Stacey regained her composure and asked John to come to their table. When John got there, he was pleasantly surprised to see Stacey.

“Hey Stacey, I’m so glad to see you,” John smiled.

“You fooled me, John,” Stacey said, glaring at John.

“I don’t understand,” John replied.

“When you asked me out on a date, you thought a measly waiter such as yourself stood a chance with me?” Stacey asked as her friends snickered. “You look so pathetic in that uniform, your job is to serve me, and that’s all you’ll ever do,” she added.

John was disappointed. He had no idea that the polite lady he met the day before would turn out to be so mean. “I didn’t know you’d be so mean,” John said.

“You don’t deserve my kindness or my time, and I am way better than you’ll ever hope to be,” Stacey laughed.

“Your arrogance is uncalled for,” John said.

“Yeah, whatever, don’t lecture me. I’ll tip you more than what you make in a month if you delete my number,” she replied.

John walked away hurt, and Stacey and her friends laughed. “I can’t believe you almost went on a date with a waiter. Should we complain to the manager to mess with him?” Mira asked.

“No, it’s fine. His terrible job is probably all he has!” Stacey laughed.

Stacey and her friends spent the rest of the dinner laughing at John every time he walked past. They made unreasonable requests to make his evening difficult. Stacey even spilled wine on John’s pants and laughed as she and her friends walked out of the restaurant.

When Stacey arrived home that evening, she saw her mother Brenda sitting in the dark and sobbing. “Mom, are you okay? What’s going on?” she asked.

“It’s your father,” she replied. “He got into a car crash. It’s not looking good.”

Stacey began to cry. “Can we go and see him?” she asked.

“The doctors are still operating on him, so I came home to wait for you so we could go together,” Brenda replied.

Stacey and her mom drove to the hospital, hoping that her father would survive the car crash. They were both terrified of what would happen if he didn’t. Stacey and her father were close, and she enjoyed spending time with him. He had even begun to teach her about the family business.

When they arrived at the hospital, Brenda rushed to the doctor she had met earlier when her husband was wheeled into the operating room. “Doctor, how is the surgery going? Is my husband going to be okay?” she asked. She was afraid of hearing even more terrible news from the doctor.

"Your husband has just been released from the operating room and is currently in the ICU. The surgery was complicated, and there were some moments when his survival was in grave danger, but he pulled through," the doctor said. Both Stacey and her mom were so relieved they started crying again.

The doctor continued, “Ma’am, your husband has a very rare blood type, and if it weren't for one of our donors who traveled here in the middle of the night to donate blood, he probably would not have survived.” Stacey and her mom hadn’t known about her father’s blood type. Stacey asked to meet the donor who saved her father’s life.

“He’s still in the hospital, and I’ll take you to him,” the doctor said.

As they walked to the other end of the hospital, Stacey shuddered to think of what would have happened if no one had been available to donate blood to her father. She couldn't wait to thank the hero who helped save him.

When she walked into the donor's room, she was shocked to see John resting on the couch. Stacey just stood in the room, unsure what to say.

“Hi Stacey, why are you here?” John asked.

“The doctor told me you were the one who traveled here to donate blood for my dad,” she said.

“I didn’t know that man was your father, but I would’ve done it anyway. I often donate blood, so the hospital sometimes calls me when they need blood in a hurry,” he explained. “Are you surprised that a pathetic waiter like me did something that helped you and your family?” he asked. Stacey stared at him for a while, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“I don’t know what to say. I feel so overwhelmed,” she said.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your father. I hope he recovers,” John said.

“I should be the one saying I’m sorry. I treated you do badly,” Stacey said. “Is there anything I can do? Would you like compensation? I can speak to my father, and he’ll be happy to give you some money as a token of appreciation.”

“Stacey, I don’t want your money,” he said. “I try to do good things for people because that’s who I am, not because I expect a reward. Sadly, you see the world as a bunch of transactional interactions. Maybe one day you’ll change your ways,” John said and walked out.

When Stacey walked back to her father’s ward, she kept thinking about what John had said about doing good things for people and expecting nothing in return. She thought about how she treated people terribly with no consequences and with even less remorse. She felt ashamed of her actions. She wondered how she became like this.

When she walked into her father’s ward, she saw her father had regained consciousness. Her mom embraced her dad while they whispered. She admired their relationship and always wanted to get married, but she realized that she would never find a good person if she wasn't one herself.

Her father steadily recovered and was released from the hospital a month later. She thought she would not feel guilty about how she treated John for this long, but his words kept ringing in her head. After speaking to her father about the possibility of working fewer hours a week at the family business, she decided to transform her life.

A year later, Stacey was walking home when she bumped into John. “Hi John, I haven’t seen you in a long time,” Stacey said.

It took a few seconds for John to recognize her, but when he did, he smiled. “You look well. I hope your father has fully recovered,” he said.

“Yes, he did. I'm so grateful for what you did that night; you helped save his life,” she said

“You’re welcome; I’m surprised to see you walking around here,” he said.

"I’m walking back from one of the shelters in town; I began doing a lot of charity work after my father’s car crash and the conversation we had that evening. Your words changed my life,” she said.

“I’m pleased to hear that. I didn’t think you had it in you to be generous and kind,” he laughed.

“Neither did I! But I realized that I was living a very selfish life,” Stacey said. “I would like to have coffee with you tomorrow if you don’t mind.”

“That sounds like a great idea; it would be nice to get to know the new Stacey,” John said.

The next day, the pair met for coffee and spoke about all Stacey's work to help people in need. She spent most of her time in shelters cooking food for homeless people and supporting women in dangerous domestic situations to find safety.

John was impressed at how different Stacy had become. He noticed that she was a lot kinder to everyone around her. “I’m proud of you,” he said.

Stacey and John went on to be good friends. They started a non-profit organization that educated people about the importance of living healthy lives to be eligible to donate blood. Stacey never hung out with Mira and Jen after she began charity work because they were not interested in helping people.

Although Stacey wanted to have a relationship with John after the coffee date, she found out that John had been in a committed relationship for several months. He had since moved from the restaurant he worked at and was now involved in full-time philanthropic work.

What can we learn from this story?

• Don't judge people by their income level. If Stacey had not considered and humiliated John based on his income level, they could have become good friends and maybe more much earlier.
• Sometimes the poorest people are the richest in spirit. John was able to remain calm and kind throughout his experiences with Stacey because of how good a person he was. His generosity saved Staye's dad's life.

Please share this story with your friends; it might inspire people to share their own stories or help someone else.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a rich girl who appeared on a guy's doorstep years after rejecting him for being poor.

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