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American Morning
Interview with Waitress Heidi Tomassi
Aired December 13, 2002 - 07:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: At first, she thought it was a big tip, a very big tip. Waitress Heidi Tomassi realized a customer had mistakenly left behind about $3,300 and she made sure the money made it back to the rightful owner. Her honesty has triggered a chain reaction of generosity, in a big way, too. That makes this a perfect story for a season of giving.
Heidi Tomassi joins us now from the Appleby's Restaurant where she works in Olathe, Kansas. She's there with her husband, Joe, as well.
Good morning to both of you.
HEIDI TOMASSI, WAITRESS: Good morning.
JOE TOMASSI, HUSBAND: Good morning.
HEMMER: Great to have you here with us this morning.
Heidi, I want your story. You found the envelope on the table. You give it to the manager. And at that point did you know what was inside?
HEIDI TOMASSI: I did know that there was money inside. I just didn't know exactly how much money was inside.
HEMMER: And when you found out, you thought what?
HEIDI TOMASSI: I was a little shocked. I thought what in the heck does he have that much money laying around for?
HEMMER: Well, he thought it was just really good service, don't you think, Heidi?
HEIDI TOMASSI: Well, I was on my fifth day of training, so I was still a little shaky about a couple things.
HEMMER: It's amazing that you've only been working there two weeks and this incident happened.
The customer came back the next day. What happened?
HEIDI TOMASSI: Well, he came back and my manager had spoken with me and asked if I would be the one to actually hand him the money so that he could get a chance to, you know, just like thank me. And that was really nice. So I handed him the envelope and he gave me a hundred bucks and just, you know, thanked me and he was very speechless and very shocked. And then he left.
HEMMER: Yes. Come clean, Heidi. Did you ever want to keep it?
HEIDI TOMASSI: I didn't. I never.
HEMMER: Yes?
HEIDI TOMASSI: Everyone asks me that, and I never for one second ever thought to put it in my pocket or keep the money.
HEMMER: Well, listen, I know your family needs the money. Is it still the case that your husband Joe is out of work?
HEIDI TOMASSI: No, he's not currently. He was out of work when our son was home and we were on hospice.
HEMMER: Well, Joe's sitting next to you.
HEIDI TOMASSI: He is.
HEMMER: Hey, Joe, what about this story and what about the fact that one of your babies recently had an operation, you need the money? Now this happens and the generosity is returned by the people living around you. What do you think about that?
JOE TOMASSI: I just think it's great. It's still pretty overwhelming. I think once we get it settled down and we get back to just like every day stuff, I think it's really going to set in then.
HEMMER: Yes, how much have you guys collected right now from the people offering donations from hearing about this story?
JOE TOMASSI: It's right around $4,400 right now.
HEMMER: Wow. Which is about $1,000 more than was inside that envelope. How does that strike you guys?
HEIDI TOMASSI: We are just so overwhelmed by just the community coming together and just feeling like they want to support us and feel touched by our story. We just, we are just, we're speechless at this point. We can't even begin to start thanking everybody. It's just, it just doesn't feel like enough for us.
HEMMER: How is Griffin?
HEIDI TOMASSI: He's doing well. He's actually sick this morning a little bit with a little touch of a cold. So that's why we weren't able to have him here. So we apologize that he wasn't able to be here.
HEMMER: Well, we have some videotape that we're showing our viewers right now, Heidi.
HEIDI TOMASSI: Oh.
HEMMER: What's his prognosis for recovery? HEIDI TOMASSI: He, with the type of surgery he had the second time, we're not going to know for another four, well, three to five, maybe six months whether or not the surgery is going to be long-term successful so.
HEMMER: Well, listen, our fingers are crossed for you. I'm assuming this is going to make a great holiday.
HEIDI TOMASSI: Oh, it's going to be just, it will, even, this is just a totally added bonus. It would have been a great, great holiday knowing that Griffin was home with us because we really just didn't anticipate him being here for the holiday.
HEMMER: Well, listen, good luck to you, OK? And enjoy it while you can. And best of luck to your son, too, as well.
HEIDI TOMASSI: Thank you.
HEMMER: Heidi and Joe Tomassi, Olathe, Kansas.
JOE TOMASSI: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: From the Appleby's, of all places.
Thanks again and have a great holiday.
HEIDI TOMASSI: All right.
HEMMER: All right, bye-bye.
HEIDI TOMASSI: Thank you, you, too.
JOE TOMASSI: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 13, 2002 - 07:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: At first, she thought it was a big tip, a very big tip. Waitress Heidi Tomassi realized a customer had mistakenly left behind about $3,300 and she made sure the money made it back to the rightful owner. Her honesty has triggered a chain reaction of generosity, in a big way, too. That makes this a perfect story for a season of giving.
Heidi Tomassi joins us now from the Appleby's Restaurant where she works in Olathe, Kansas. She's there with her husband, Joe, as well.
Good morning to both of you.
HEIDI TOMASSI, WAITRESS: Good morning.
JOE TOMASSI, HUSBAND: Good morning.
HEMMER: Great to have you here with us this morning.
Heidi, I want your story. You found the envelope on the table. You give it to the manager. And at that point did you know what was inside?
HEIDI TOMASSI: I did know that there was money inside. I just didn't know exactly how much money was inside.
HEMMER: And when you found out, you thought what?
HEIDI TOMASSI: I was a little shocked. I thought what in the heck does he have that much money laying around for?
HEMMER: Well, he thought it was just really good service, don't you think, Heidi?
HEIDI TOMASSI: Well, I was on my fifth day of training, so I was still a little shaky about a couple things.
HEMMER: It's amazing that you've only been working there two weeks and this incident happened.
The customer came back the next day. What happened?
HEIDI TOMASSI: Well, he came back and my manager had spoken with me and asked if I would be the one to actually hand him the money so that he could get a chance to, you know, just like thank me. And that was really nice. So I handed him the envelope and he gave me a hundred bucks and just, you know, thanked me and he was very speechless and very shocked. And then he left.
HEMMER: Yes. Come clean, Heidi. Did you ever want to keep it?
HEIDI TOMASSI: I didn't. I never.
HEMMER: Yes?
HEIDI TOMASSI: Everyone asks me that, and I never for one second ever thought to put it in my pocket or keep the money.
HEMMER: Well, listen, I know your family needs the money. Is it still the case that your husband Joe is out of work?
HEIDI TOMASSI: No, he's not currently. He was out of work when our son was home and we were on hospice.
HEMMER: Well, Joe's sitting next to you.
HEIDI TOMASSI: He is.
HEMMER: Hey, Joe, what about this story and what about the fact that one of your babies recently had an operation, you need the money? Now this happens and the generosity is returned by the people living around you. What do you think about that?
JOE TOMASSI: I just think it's great. It's still pretty overwhelming. I think once we get it settled down and we get back to just like every day stuff, I think it's really going to set in then.
HEMMER: Yes, how much have you guys collected right now from the people offering donations from hearing about this story?
JOE TOMASSI: It's right around $4,400 right now.
HEMMER: Wow. Which is about $1,000 more than was inside that envelope. How does that strike you guys?
HEIDI TOMASSI: We are just so overwhelmed by just the community coming together and just feeling like they want to support us and feel touched by our story. We just, we are just, we're speechless at this point. We can't even begin to start thanking everybody. It's just, it just doesn't feel like enough for us.
HEMMER: How is Griffin?
HEIDI TOMASSI: He's doing well. He's actually sick this morning a little bit with a little touch of a cold. So that's why we weren't able to have him here. So we apologize that he wasn't able to be here.
HEMMER: Well, we have some videotape that we're showing our viewers right now, Heidi.
HEIDI TOMASSI: Oh.
HEMMER: What's his prognosis for recovery? HEIDI TOMASSI: He, with the type of surgery he had the second time, we're not going to know for another four, well, three to five, maybe six months whether or not the surgery is going to be long-term successful so.
HEMMER: Well, listen, our fingers are crossed for you. I'm assuming this is going to make a great holiday.
HEIDI TOMASSI: Oh, it's going to be just, it will, even, this is just a totally added bonus. It would have been a great, great holiday knowing that Griffin was home with us because we really just didn't anticipate him being here for the holiday.
HEMMER: Well, listen, good luck to you, OK? And enjoy it while you can. And best of luck to your son, too, as well.
HEIDI TOMASSI: Thank you.
HEMMER: Heidi and Joe Tomassi, Olathe, Kansas.
JOE TOMASSI: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: From the Appleby's, of all places.
Thanks again and have a great holiday.
HEIDI TOMASSI: All right.
HEMMER: All right, bye-bye.
HEIDI TOMASSI: Thank you, you, too.
JOE TOMASSI: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
