United States: a pizza delivery man buys a bottle of soda from a customer… and receives over 100,000 dollars

Dan Simpson’s small gesture has touched the couple he was delivering to, before going viral on social media.

Dan Simpson certainly did not expect such a big tip. This 68-year-old American, who supplements his income by working several evenings a week as a pizza delivery driver for Domino’s, can now consider a comfortable retirement after receiving an outpouring of solidarity as social media can sometimes generate.

His benefactors are Brian and Katey Wilson. When Dan arrived at their home in Boise, Idaho, he realized that the restaurant had forgotten to add a bottle of Diet Coke to the order. So, he took the initiative to stop at a grocery store to buy the missing drink himself.

Upon arriving at the Wilsons’, Dan handed over the order to the couple in their thirties, telling them about his little detour to the local supermarket. Touched by this gesture, Brian Wilson warmly thanked him. Dan then confided that he would be “retiring in 26 days.” The two men parted ways with a handshake, while the surveillance camera at the entrance of the house captured the moment. Katey Wilson later shared the video on TikTok.

Returning to work the next day, Dan was approached by his colleagues: “You’ve become famous, man!” Indeed, overnight, the magic of social media had worked its wonders: the video posted by Katey Wilson had already exceeded one million views. At the same time, the fundraiser launched by the couple to help the future retiree had reached several tens of thousands of dollars.

“This can’t be real, it must be a scam,” Dan first wondered. “I don’t think I work harder than anyone else,” added the 68-year-old delivery driver, who also works at the Idaho Department of Agriculture, still incredulous. “All this to stop and buy a soda, it took me three minutes.” An insignificant gesture for Dan, but deeply meaningful for the Wilsons: “This kind of attention and kindness seems so rare these days. It was one of those moments that instantly remind you that there are still genuinely kind people, ready to go out of their way simply because they care about others,” the couple told the Idaho Statesman.

A week after the video was posted, the Wilsons had already raised over $100,000 for Dan, with some individual donations reaching $5,000. An unexpected boost for the sexagenarian delivery driver, who now plans to travel to Hawaii while intending to spend the rest of his days in his small town of Melba, Idaho.

Dan Simpson is not the first to benefit from the collective and spontaneous generosity of social media. On these platforms, videos showing encounters with people in need often garner millions of views and often lead to the creation of fundraisers. Some influencers have even made it their business, staging themselves during outreach efforts or acts of kindness towards homeless or disabled individuals. Whether interested or not, these initiatives have the power to radically transform the lives of those who benefit, as evidenced by Dan Simpson’s story.