Joey Prusak

MINNEAPOLIS — 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 didn’t know 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 e-mail 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 or giving him money directly — which he says he will donate to charity.

Prusak said he even got a call Thursday from billionaire Warren Buffett, whose company owns Dairy Queen.