Keith Urban Seemed Short on Cash at a N.J. Store so Local Teacher Graciously Picked Up the Tab
A beloved teacher in New Jersey has become a local celebrity after helping Keith Urban pay for his snacks.
Ruth Reed, a retired elementary school teacher and current substitute teacher, helped the country star, 50, at Medford’s Wawa convenience store on Friday, thinking he was a customer in need.
The best part: She even playfully argued with Urban when he told her who he was.
“I didn’t know it was Keith Urban. I didn’t think he had enough money to pay for his things so I said I would pay for it and briefly when he told me who he was and I didn’t believe it was him,” Reed told local news outlet CBS3.
“He was very gracious and let me get my picture taken with him,” she added of Urban, who performed at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden later that night as part of his Graffiti U tour.
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Reed’s photo with Urban has since gone viral on Facebook after it was posted on the city’s local page.
“@KeithUrban thank you for the photo at @Wawa. You were so gracious. I’m a celebrity with my FB friends now! Thanks!” Reed tweeted.
But in fact, Reed is the gracious one in town. She revealed that she has been helping pay for other people’s Wawa goods for three years.
“I have made a resolution to once a week treat someone at Wawa. Occasionally it happens more than once a week,” she wrote on her private Facebook account, which was later publicly shared on Twitter by her former student.
“This man was short a few dollars, he asked a lady with him if she had money. I jumped in and said I would pay and explained why. He thanked me and asked my name. I asked him his and he told me it was Keith,” Reed recalled.
“I said that he did look like Keith Urban, he said he was. I didn’t believe him, I asked where Nicole [Kidman] was and who was the lady. He told me it was his sister. He finally said that I could ask his bodyguard. It was then I realized what an idiot I was. He graciously allowed me to get my picture taken with him. Another Ruth Reed moment!” she said.
Reed did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
