After moving from Santa Rosa, California, to Waikiki, Hawaii, for school, Cayla Chandara found herself stuck in a place she never thought she’d be in. With student loan debt piling up, and the cost of living proving to be too much for a full-time college student, Cayla put everything on hold to earn the money she needed to stay debt-free.
That meant taking time off from school to work double shifts at the local Cheesecake Factory and Noi Thai Cuisine. She hoped to return to school one day, but for now, balancing her two jobs is where Cayla needed to be.
That is—until one day when she waited on a group of strangers who changed her circumstance with just one meal.
While waiting tables at Noi Thai Cuisine, Cayla had the pleasure of serving a couple and a 10-year-old girl who were visiting from Australia.
They made conversation with Cayla—asking what brought her to Hawaii, and what her plans are for the future.
Thinking the customers were just being nice, the 21-year-old waitress told them about school, and how she hopes to earn enough money to return one day.
Soon enough, they finished their meals and left.
When Cayla retrieved their $200 tab from the table, she was SHOCKED to see the tip they’d left.
A typical 20 percent tip on $200 would be $40. But the customers intentionally added an extra zero, leaving Cayla with a jaw-dropping tip of $400. TWICE as much as their entire meal cost!
“I was then at a loss for words and all I wanted to do was hug them,” Cayla told CBS News.
“Tears streaming. No words at all. Just hugs.”
Desperate to tell them thank you, Cayla recalled where the customers had told her they were staying, and made a special trip to their hotel after her shift.
“I genuinely wanted to say thank you,” she said. “I sent a thank you letter saying how much it meant to me.”
Cayla left her note with the front desk, thinking she’d never see the tourists ever again.
Until they showed up at her restaurant again the following night. This time, the tourists had a different tip in mind.
They told Cayla they would like to give her $10,000 to pay off her student loans and contribute to her continued education.
As you can imagine, the California native was at a loss for words. Who just decides to give a random stranger TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS?!
“I initially told them I couldn’t take that offer, but they insisted that it would be just as great for them to do it for me,” Cayla explained.
Because of their generosity, the Business major plans to return to school in the fall. Cayla asked how she could ever repay them for their kindness.
“They told me the best way to thank them is to be my best possible self, dream big and strive for my goals.”
Cayla says their generosity has done so much more than provide a way for her to return to school.
“They have truly changed my life, not only financially but in the way I look at things. They are the most beautiful and kind-hearted people I’ve come across and I really look up to them and I can’t wait until they watch me graduate.”
She hopes her story of the strangers who tipped her $10,400 serves as a positive reminder that there really are great people in the world.
