Chili's waiter shocked by huge tip on $21 tab

Luther Franklin is always in high spirits when he’s waiting tables. He wears a smile to work even though times are hard. He fell victim to a thief recently and felt low until   a couple he'd never met walked into his restaurant.

“It was pretty busy. I had quite a few tables and these two young people come in and sit in my section. They had a chess board,” Franklin said.

He said he joked with them about his chess-playing skills,then the two ate their meal and left. Franklin thought it was a normal experience until he cleaned off the table and found an envelope.

“The envelope said, ‘Thank you so much. God bless.’ I opened it up and was just like, 'Wow,'” Franklin said.

They tipped him $423 on a $21 tab.

The tip came about two weeks after Franklin was getting a ride from a friend when they stopped to help someone else in need.

“He was asking for a ride, (and) we were trying to help someone out, you know,” Franklin said.

He said the stranger stole a sack full of more than $400 worth of new parts he needed to fix his truck.

“It seemed like bad stuff just kept happening. Then I got this and it really helped me out,” Franklin said.

He'd like to meet the couple again.

“If I could meet them face to face I would just be like, ‘Thank you very much. I needed it,’” Franklin said.