Oh My Goodness: Bagel Store Manager Drives 6 Hours To Give Customer Something She Left Behind
MIDDLE ISLAND, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island man went above and beyond to help a family he barely knows.
His unusual act of kindness is receiving praise from an entire community, and beyond, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported Tuesday.
Lines formed inside Bagels 101 of Middle Island. Calls came in by the dozens.
They all wanted to hear more about manager Vinny Proscia, who saved the day for Diana Chong and her family.
"It's overwhelming, actually," Proscia said. "It makes you feel better inside."
"This act of kindness is just unheard of," Chong said.
Chong ran in to grab bagels for her husband and daughters and accidentally left her key fob on the counter. She was a passenger, the car was running, and she didn't realize her error until she got to a family celebration nearly four hours later.
"We were calling dealerships, we were calling locksmiths, we were calling AAA," Chong said.
She then called Proscia in a panic. Without a fob, there would be no way to restart the car. And there was nothing open because it was the weekend.
"I said, 'Just send me the address and I will bring them to you,'" Proscia said. "And she said, 'You're going to drive all the way to PA?' And I was like, 'Yeah, why not?'"
The trip was 189 miles one way, from Middle Island to the Chong's reunion in Honesdale, Pa.
"Our first reaction is he's not going to come, and I was like, no, he's coming," Chong said.
"GPS said three and a half [hours]. It was really six," Proscia said.
Six hours later, Proscia was greeted like a rock star, fed crumble cake and coffee, plied with gift cards, and more.
As he returned home from Pennsylvania to open his bagel shop by 5:30 a.m., Proscia was pulled over for speeding. The police officer listened to his incredulous story and scrapped the $500 ticket, in favor of a warning.
The cop even got emotional, Proscia said, reading his thank you cards from the Chongs.
"A time of caring, giving and just not thinking about yourself. Thinking about of others first," Proscia said.
"Spread positivity and people need to be kind to one another," Chong said, "and help each other out in this stressful world we live in."
Proscia's family has already been invited to the Chongs' for a "Friendsgiving" celebration.
Proscia has received accolades from all over social media, including one from a bagel shop owner in Virginia, who wants to hire him to open a shop there and spread good cheer.
Our series Oh My Goodness highlights people doing good deeds in their community, either big or small. Do you know someone doing good or making a difference in your community? We want to know all about them! Email OhMyGoodness@CBS.com or send us a message on Facebook. You can also use #OMGCBS on Twitter or Instagram.
