A Kansas businessman gave a McDonald’s worker the ultimate tip Wednesday, giving her a free car, KNSW reported.
“I have a surprise,” customer Chris Ellis told Vickie Anderson. Ellis led Anderson, who had been having car trouble and was catching rides to work with co-workers, to the parking lot.
“Here’s the key,” Ellis said in a video recorded outside the fast-food restaurant. “The black car is yours.”
“No way,” a stunned Anderson said as she looked at a 2009 Pontiac GS.
“It’s way,” Ellis said. “I never kid. It’s all yours.”
The car had belonged to Ellis’ son, Josh Ellis.
Monday, Chris Ellis chatted with Anderson at the drive-thru, and she mentioned that her 1994 Oldsmobile Sierra had broken down and was worth less than the $500 it could cost to fix, The Wichita Eagle reported.
“My windows didn’t even work, my air conditioner quit working,” Anderson told KNSW. “I had to climb through the passenger side.”
She asked Ellis if he knew anyone selling a cheap car.
“Fate looked me in the eye when she told me that story,” Ellis told the newspaper. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. ... I said, ‘I have to do something.’ ”
Two days later, Ellis had a solution for Anderson.
His son had bought a new truck, so Ellis paid for the car and then presented the title and keys to Anderson.
“I thought he was kidding again,” Anderson told the Eagle. “Who just does that? I mean, really.”
Anderson asked how she could repay the businessman.
“Just pay it forward when you can,” he told her.
Support real journalism. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. See offers.
Your subscription to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution funds in-depth reporting and investigations that keep you informed. Thank you for supporting real journalism.