Dairy Queen manager praised for standing up for customer

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joey Prusak was appalled when he saw a customer at the suburban Minneapolis Dairy Queen store where he works pick up someone else’s $20 bill and slip it into her purse.

So when the woman got up to the counter to order, Prusak refused to serve her unless she returned the money. When the woman refused, the 19-year-old store manager went a step further: He gave the visually impaired customer who hadn’t realized he’d dropped the money $20 out of his own pocket.

“I was just doing what I thought was right,” Prusak said Thursday as he recalled the incident from earlier this month. “I did it without even really thinking about it. … Ninety-nine out of 100 people would’ve done the same thing as me.”

Even so, Prusak has received loads of praise since a customer’s email about him to Dairy Queen was posted online.

Now, people are calling the store, thanking Prusak and even offering him jobs. Customer traffic at the Hopkins Dairy Queen has doubled, and many people are leaving large tips — money that Prusak says he will donate to charity.

ABC News is also reporting that Prusak got a phone call from billionaire Warren Buffett, whose company owns Dairy Queen. Other top Dairy Queen executives also reportedly called.

According to ABC, Buffett also asked Prusak to attend the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in May 2014 in Omaha, Neb., so that he can meet him. Buffett is chairman, president and CEO of Berkshire, which is the holding company that owns Dairy Queen.

See a video interview with the manager from a local CBS station.