Waitress in Tears After Hank Williams Jr. Leaves a Handwritten Note and $2,000 Tip: “Kindness Is the Song the World Needs”
When 24-year-old waitress Susan Matthews arrived for her evening shift at the small roadside diner off Highway 41 in Nashville, she expected just another busy night of refilling coffee cups and carrying plates. What she didn’t expect was that one of the customers at Table 7 would change her life — and her outlook — with a few handwritten words and an extraordinary act of generosity.
That customer turned out to be none other than Hank Williams Jr., the country-music legend whose songs have defined southern rock and country for more than five decades. But when he walked into the modest diner on a rainy Thursday evening, there were no bodyguards, no entourage, and no fanfare. Wearing a denim jacket, sunglasses, and his trademark wide-brimmed hat, Hank simply took a seat by the window and asked for a cup of coffee.
“Just a regular guy”
“I didn’t recognize him right away,” Susan admitted later, still smiling in disbelief. “He looked familiar, but he was so down-to-earth — just polite, kind, and funny. He asked about the specials, thanked me for taking care of him, and even complimented the pie.”
Other staff members at the diner described similar impressions.
“He treated everyone like family,” said line cook James Reynolds, who peeked out from the kitchen when he realized who was sitting in the corner booth. “You’d never guess he’s played for stadiums full of people. He was just talking about how much he missed home-cooked food.”
Over the next hour, Williams chatted casually with Susan, asking where she was from and how long she’d worked at the diner. “He said something like, ‘It takes good people to keep the world spinning,’” Susan recalled. “It just felt like talking to somebody’s granddad who really cared.”
A message under the coffee cup
When he finished his meal — a plate of country-fried steak, mashed potatoes, and a slice of pecan pie — Hank asked for the check. Susan brought it over and thanked him for stopping by. He smiled, placed a folded bill beneath his coffee cup, tipped his hat, and said softly, “You’ve got a good heart — keep letting it shine.”
Then he walked out into the drizzle, leaving only the faint sound of boots on the pavement and the aroma of fresh coffee behind.
It wasn’t until Susan began clearing the table that she noticed the folded hundred-dollar bills tucked neatly under the cup. At first, she thought it might be a mistake. But when she opened it, her hands began to tremble. Inside was a handwritten note in blue ink on a napkin.
“You might think you’re just serving tables tonight, but you’re serving hearts too. Kindness is the song the world needs — keep singing it.”
— Hank Williams Jr.
Next to the note was a tip totaling $2,000.
“I just froze,” Susan said, tears welling up as she remembered the moment. “It wasn’t about the money — though of course that’s huge for someone like me trying to pay bills. It was the words. I’d been having such a rough week, wondering if any of this even mattered. That note felt like God reminding me it does.”
“It’s not about fame”
Word of the act spread quickly after a coworker shared a photo of the note — with Hank’s permission later confirmed — on social media. Within hours, thousands of fans across the country were commenting, sharing, and praising the singer’s gesture.
Hank Williams Jr., known for hits like “A Country Boy Can Survive” and “Family Tradition,” has long been celebrated for his larger-than-life stage persona, but those who know him personally say his off-stage kindness often goes unnoticed.
“He’s got a big heart,” said longtime friend and guitarist Chris Thomas. “Hank’s the kind of man who’ll help a stranger without ever talking about it. He’s old-school that way — believes that if you’ve been blessed, you pass it on quietly.”
In a brief phone interview later that week, Williams confirmed the story but brushed off the attention.
“I didn’t do anything special,” he said. “That young lady had great energy. You could tell she cared about people. Sometimes you just want to let folks know they matter. We all get busy chasing something, but kindness — that’s what lasts.”
Finding purpose again
For Susan, those words became a turning point. She’d been struggling to balance two jobs while caring for her younger sister, who has medical challenges. “I’ve been questioning everything lately — if I’m wasting my time, if anyone even notices when I try to be kind,” she shared. “That night, a complete stranger reminded me why I do what I do.”
Her coworkers say the change in her demeanor was immediate. “She came back from that table crying but smiling,” said waitress Megan Lopez. “She said, ‘I think I just met an angel in cowboy boots.’”
Since then, the diner has seen an uptick in customers — some stopping by simply to meet “the waitress Hank Williams Jr. made cry.” Susan says she uses the extra attention as an opportunity to share the message that touched her so deeply. “Every person who sits at my table, I try to make them feel seen. Because maybe they need a little reminder too.”
The ripple effect of a simple act
Community members have begun calling the moment “The Kindness Note.” Local radio stations picked up the story, and within a week, listeners started sharing similar experiences — times when a small act of compassion changed their day.
“It’s wild how one handwritten note can move so many people,” said diner owner Lydia Harper. “In a world that feels divided and distracted, that message hit home. ‘Kindness is the song the world needs’ — that line should be on a billboard.”
Even Susan agrees that while the $2,000 helped with her sister’s medical bills, it was the reminder of purpose that meant the most. “Money runs out,” she said softly. “But that note — I’m keeping it forever. It’s framed above my bed now.”
As for Hank Williams Jr., he declined further comment but ended the phone call with one final line that summed up his philosophy:
“Good music makes you feel something,” he said. “Good hearts do too.”
And in that quiet diner off Highway 41, one simple act of kindness proved that sometimes the smallest gestures carry the loudest echoes — a timeless melody of compassion, generosity, and hope that keeps on playing long after the song has ended.
