Because this hardly ever happens:

Jessica Osborne, 20, received the gift from a family of regulars at the Pizza Hut where she works in this northeastern Indiana town.

The family — a mother and two sons — stopped in recently for their usual: two Mountain Dews, a cup of hot water for tea and a large Meat Lover’s Stuffed Crust pizza. They requested Osborne as usual and chatted about their lives.

"They make your day better when they come in," Osborne said.

She said she told them how she had started college twice but had to drop out because she didn’t have enough money. They told her of their plans to move away, and she asked that they say goodbye before leaving town.

They returned last week and handed Osborne a check, folded in half, with money from an education fund they had set up after a death in the family.

The tip?  $10,000.

Now, I consider myself a reasonably generous person, and — believe me — I’m happy for Ms. Osborne.  But unfortunately, I worry about going into restaurants once this story gets out.  Suddenly, evey single waiter and waitress is going to tell me their sob story in the hopes that I’ll whip out my checkbook and, you know, put them through college or something.  It’s not that I wouldn’t want to, but I’m not very wealthy.  Plus — you know — I want a nachos and an avocado dip first.  And a glass of water, if it’s not too much trouble.  That’s why I came into the establishment in the first place.