Customer sees waiter's smile, tips him a $25,000 new one

WICHITA -- A server in Kansas who has always found reason to smile is beaming even prouder now, just weeks after receiving the tip of a lifetime.

Brian Maixner is a server at the Doo-Dah Diner in Wichita. He's a single dad, known for his friendly manner and easy-going attitude. Maixner has always been one to smile proudly. His teeth, however, were less than perfect. In fact they were painful. But being a single-father he didn't have the money to get them fixed.

That's when Fred Boettcher, an attorney from Ponca City, Oklahoma, stepped in.

"He carried himself with such kindness and confidence with a mouth that looked painful," Boettcher told KWCH of Maixner. "I was struck by that."



After Maixner served Boettcher a meal earlier this year, Boettcher called over the diner's owner. The attorney, who suffered severe dental problems of his own when he was a kid, wanted to know if she thought it would be OK to ask if he could pay for a complete dental refurbishment for Maixner. The owner said it was OK, and Boettcher proposed the idea to the friendly server.

When he was approached with the offer -- worth about $25,000 -- Maixner broke down with tears of joy.



"This man doesn't know me and this is something I could never afford to do for myself," Maixner told KWCH. "It touched me so much that he cared."

Now, after weeks of dentist trips down to Ponca City, Maixner has a new smile. And he's happier than ever.



For more from the Doo-Dah Diner, click here.