this post was submitted on 13 May 2026
464 points (96.8% liked)
me_irl
7664 readers
2677 users here now
All posts need to have the same title: me_irl it is allowed to use an emoji instead of the underscore _
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Sort of. In 1984, Phyllis Penzo worked at a pizzeria and Officer Robert Cunningham suggested splitting a lottery ticket in lieu of a tip. Penzo actually forgot about it, but Cunningham won $6 million and honored their agreement. The film came out in 1994, so it was almost certainly inspired by the story (I didn't find a definitive answer in my incredibly brief search).
The woman pictured in OP's post is Tonda Dickerson, who was a waitress at Waffle House in Florida in 1999. She was tipped the lottery ticket, and everything in the image appears to be true.
Wow so one gets a movie made and she doesn't. Sounds like way more interesting story.