‘This can’t be real’: Boise pizza delivery man’s gesture earns, oh, 80,000% tip

Dan Simpson didn’t think anything of it when he veered a few hundred feet off his Domino’s route in Boise on Friday night to pick up a pair of liter bottles of Diet Coke.

Little did he know it would lead to a mind-boggling pizza delivery tip.

The 68-year-old Boise native, who has spent more than a decade delivering for Domino’s a few nights a week to supplement his day job at the Idaho Department of Agriculture, said this wasn’t the first time he went out of his way for a customer.

So when he realized Domino’s was out of the soda listed on one of his orders, and the customer didn’t answer his call asking for a substitute, his next thought was, “What the heck?” He ran across the street to a convenience store and bought the soda, delivering it to a West Boise home so the order was complete.

As ordinary as he thought that was, what followed was extraordinary.

When he returned to work the next day, his much younger co-workers told him, “Man, you’re famous, dude.”

Simpson’s simple act – and a video of his interaction with the grateful customer – went viral.

By Monday, the video, captured by customer Brian Wilson’s Ring camera and uploaded to TikTok, had amassed more than 325,000 views. A GoFundMe, launched by Wilson on Simpson’s behalf, had raised more than $17,000. By Tuesday, the fund was close to $25,000.

The world needs more Dans

Wilson told the story on the GoFundMe page.

“Last night, something simple turned into something really special, and we can’t stop thinking about it,” he wrote.

He recalled being “blown away” when Simpson arrived at his door with the bottles, despite it being a busy night of deliveries.

“On the surface, it probably looked like such a small gesture,” he told the Idaho Statesman in a text message. “But to us, it felt like so much more than that. That kind of thoughtfulness and personal care just feels so rare these days.

“It was one of those moments that instantly remind you there are still genuinely good people out there who go above and beyond simply because they care.”

The only problem: Wilson didn’t have any cash on hand to add to Simpson’s tip. He offered to call the store to add more, but Simpson continued to reassure him.

“Oh, you don’t need to,” Simpson said in the Ring video, waving Wilson off. “It’s a good tip.”

“What Dan didn’t know is that my wife and I are both visually impaired, so running out to the store for a ‘quick’ pickup is not something that is simple or easy for us,” Wilson said by text. “What may have seemed like a tiny inconvenience to solve on his end actually made a huge difference on ours.”

When Simpson told Wilson proudly that he would be retiring in less than a month, Wilson started thinking about ways to repay the kindness.

He uploaded the video to TikTok, writing in his caption, “The world needs more Dans.” It quickly took off.

GoFundMe for viral pizza delivery man surpasses $17K

Simpson told the Statesman in an interview that the experience has been “hard to believe.”

“This can’t be real,” he recalled thinking while checking his phone repeatedly over the weekend, watching the GoFundMe donations pile up. “I’m thinking, ‘This has got to be some kind of a scam.’ ”

The Boisean shared that he spent time in prison for a DUI before getting sober and going back to school over two decades ago, and he has struggled to save for his retirement despite working.

“I don’t think I work any harder than anyone else,” he said. “I’ve always tried to be a pretty nice guy and help people out, because I know what it’s like to be down and out.”

Now, he’s looking at a huge boost to his retirement savings, thanks to Wilson’s GoFundMe. “For stopping and getting someone a soda,” he said with an incredulous laugh. “It took me about three minutes.

“They say I went the extra mile, but for goodness’ sake, it was no big deal.”

Simpson said he’s hoping to use the money toward a planned trip to see Redwood trees in California after retiring from his state job at the end of April. He plans to continue delivering pizza for Domino’s.

“Well, now I might go to Hawaii,” he said. “Actually, I’d rather go to Melba.”