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Eavesdropping Customer's Big Gift Gets Target Cashier Rolling

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - No doubt this is the time of year when people think about helping others.

But when a cashier went into work this weekend at the Monticello Target, she had no idea she'd be receiving a gift.

Bald tires and a thin wallet--that's what Dianen Casperson's been dealing with lately.

"Man this car sucks," she said with a laugh. "Money's tight, oh my lord, you don't even know. I'm working two jobs."

On Saturday she told a customer what she was hoping her kids in Illinois would buy her for Christmas.

"We are practical now that we're older, so I said what I really want is a tire, because I need a tire for my car," she said.

Turns out a man waiting in line overheard and handed her $100 cash to replace her wheel.

"Oh god, it gives me the chills," she said. "For the last three days since it's happened, it's given me the chills."

She doesn't know who the customer was--not a store regular--and she hasn't seen him since.

"Just a nice sweet man, that's all," said Casperson.

A man whose practical gift made an Illinois native a believer.

"I do believe in Minnesota nice now," she said.

In the spirit of Minnesota nice, Casperson said she wants to fix her tire and then pay it forward.

She says sometimes customers come up short on cash at the register, and she hopes to help someone out in that way.

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