Sometimes we see things on the Internet that inspire us to do really ridiculous things (cut to: actually attempting to open a wine bottle with a shoe, wine bottle shards flying everywhere). But then there are the times when the good stuff cuts through all the muckety muck of the daily grind, inspiring people to perform acts of kindness we might not otherwise have thought of on our own. Such was the case for one diner at a Colorado restaurant recently.

A waitress working a busy shift at a cafe in Vail, CO this week tells 9News.com that she had one patron who was dining solo, and didn’t stand out in any particular way.

Then towards the end of her meal, she asked for a piece of paper and a pen, the waitress says, which she dropped off for her, not thinking much of it.

She paid her $15 meal, as it turns out — and also wrote in a $1,000 tip for the waitress, leaving her a note that read: “I have waited for the right person since seeing this on FB… and you rock!”

“It was pretty shocking,” the waitress said, adding that her car had just broken down so the tip will help out with that. “I really didn’t know what to say. I literally was speechless.”

The station got in touch with the tipper, who explained that she’d read a story someone had shared on Facebook about paying it forward, and she wanted to do the same. So, she picked her waitress, who she says was giving her really excellent service during the meal, checking on her and making sure she had everything she needed.

“And I just thought to myself, ‘OK, she’s the one,'” the tipper said. “There’s just something very gratifying about doing something for someone you don’t even know and can’t pay you back.”

The waitress says she’ll never forget the woman’s generosity.

“I’m extremely forever grateful for her—just really incredible,” she said.

Vail waitress gets $1,000 tip [9News.com]

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