Couple tips waitress by replacing her beat-up car

BRANSON, Mo., Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A Missouri server said her "faith in humanity" was restored by a couple of regular customers who gave her a big tip -- a replacement for her beat-up car.

Cindi Grady, a server at the Cracker Barrel in Branson, said her car was in rough shape after five collisions with deer and the vehicle caught the attention of regular customer Gary Tackett and his wife.

Tackett said he and his wife asked around at the restaurant to find out who owned the car they had spotted in the parking lot on multiple occasions and they decided to take action when they discovered the vehicle belonged to a server.

"I talked with my wife about it," Tackett told OzarksFirst.com, "And I said, 'something has to be done.'"

The "something" came in the form of a used car in considerably better condition than Grady's clunker. The couple said the 2008 Ford Fusion cost about $2,500.

"It's not new, but it's new to you," Tackett says in a cellphone video taken by his daughter that has since gone viral on Facebook.

"It restored my faith in humanity," Grady said, "and everyone I talked to says the same thing."

Grady, who said her first order of business with the new car was to install deer-repelling whistles, said the story of the gift spread through town and led to her being able to transfer her insurance and get an inspection for free.