A prominent Kansas attorney noticed his waiter had horrible teeth and said something to the manager. What happened next left everyone stunned.
“When I hired Brian I wondered what I would do if a customer was to address the issue of his dental problems and how they were uncomfortable with it,” said the owner of the Doo-Dah Diner in Wichita, Timirie Shibley. “I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to answer that, so when Fred came up to me, that’s where I thought this was going.”
Brian Maixner has a history of dental problems that date all the way back to his childhood. The well-loved waiter could never afford to get the work that he needed, and he was suffering from missing teeth and a painful mouth infection when Fred Boettcher, an attorney from out-of-town, sat down in his section, PEOPLE reported.
You see, while Shibley thought that Brian’s dental issues would be bothersome to some customers, Boettcher had suffered similar problems when he was younger. Now that he’s done rather well for himself, he likes to give back to those he feels need it the most.
So what did he say when he talked to Shibley? Well, he told the diner owner that he was sympathetic to Brian, and he asked if it would be okay for him to shell out the $25,000 it would cost to give the upbeat waiter a full dental makeover. Shibley agreed, and when he passed the news onto Brian, his reaction couldn’t have been better.
“I am a guy, and I am not scared to admit it, I cried a little bit,” Brian said.
On Monday, Brian had the remainder of his bad teeth pulled and he was fitted with shiny new dentures. In six months, after the bones in his face heal, he’ll be given full implants throughout his mouth, according to The Wichita Eagle.
“I’m still in shock,” Brian said.
Even better, Brian says, is the reaction that he’s been getting from people after seeing his new pearly whites.
“My friends on Facebook went through the roof,” he said. “I’ve been getting a lot of people stopping me in public.”
Both Brian and the diner’s owner hope that his story, which has gone viral since it was first told, will encourage other people to pay it forward.
“Just kill ’em with kindness,” Brian said. “That’s what I’m going to do.”
Boettcher’s extraordinarily kind act is as inspiring as it is heartwarming. It’s incredible that he crossed paths with someone who was in dire need of his help, and he didn’t even hesitate to offer it. While many love to say that those who are wealthy are greedy, evil people, Boettcher showed us just the opposite, and that’s commendable.
