Awesome - Waitress Stunned After Three Men Ask To Settle Their Bill In Private
For some restaurant service staff, checking out the final bill can be a small source of anxiety. After all, your financial well-being depends on how much money diners leave behind as a tip! That's why Ashley Latella felt her stomach drop when three strange male diners asked to settle their bill away from the prying eyes of other guests. She never could've predicted the aftermath.
Uncertainty
While waitressing at the Seagrape Cafe, Ashley Latella felt uneasy when she first saw the three men enter. It was just a gut feeling. They were much older than the usual college student crowd. She knew she had a job to do, though, and went over to grab their order.
Seasonal Buzz
At first, she attributed her nerves to stress. It was the holiday season, after all, and college students in Fairfield, Connecticut, were letting loose after a long semester, and the Seagrape Cafe was a self-proclaimed "college kid's meeting place." As the night wore on, though, Ashley realized her uneasiness was about more than seasonal nerves.
Server's Shift
For the most part, the three diners' ages was what stood out in the sea of kids. But they put in order after order, and Ashley noticed they seemed to keep a close watch on her. Were they going to dine-and-dash? There wasn't an age limit on that possibility.
Table Shuffle
What unnerved Ashley even more was what these three older diners did when she approached them. Their conversation suddenly went quiet — were they talking about her? With the other tables, she tried not to worry about the men. She didn't have time to dwell on their behavior. Others in the restaurant noticed them, too.
Oversight
Ashley's manager, Carlos Carmo (pictured here), planned to keep an eye on them, but with the busy night, his mind went to different matters: a split check gone wrong, food not cooked to a customer's satisfaction. The three men weren't making a scene or acting overly inappropriate. Slowly, they slipped from Carlos' mind.
Keeping Up Suspicions
A few times, Ashley was tempted to pass the table off to a male co-worker; that way, she hopefully wouldn't be ogled as she did her job. The men didn't make any rude comments, however. They just... watched and lingered. She kept serving them — a decision that would change her life.
Closing Hours
As her night shift neared its end, Ashley soon became distracted with finishing up her other tables. Checks were settled and tips were collected. Like many waiters during a non-stop shift, Ashley was ready to clock out and head home. When the table of three men signaling for their check, Ashley was quick to get it.
Difficult Patrons
Ashley presented the check, but when she returned to collect their payment, one of the men held the check close to his chest. He wouldn't let Ashley have the bill! Instead both the man and his friends stood up and motioned towards the kitchen.
Motives
The odd request made Ashley even more uneasy. There were witnesses in the kitchen, right? What could possibly go wrong? The men spoke to her as they left the table, but she couldn't hear them over the noise. Finally, she spotted her manager.
Finding Out
Carlos Carmano was instantly reminded of his initial thoughts on the three men. When Ashley caught his attention, she explained what the customers wished to do. Carlos decided he would join her, and the small party made their way to the kitchen. There, in privacy, the customers revealed the check.
Back to Normal
In the kitchen, the three men confirmed they'd been watching Ashley. But it had not been with any ill intentions. They recognized the tough work the waitress had been doing all night long. When they shared the check, they finally showed what they wanted.
Preaching
The customers were belonged to a group called "Tips for Jesus." Members wanted to give back to individuals they felt needed the extra boost around the holidays. They believed they were passing along the love of God as well. The Seagrape Cafe was simply one stop of many.
Cross Country
The men were traveling throughout the country, finding restaurants and hard-working staff to tip big. According to the Daily Forest, the group had shelled out over $11,000 in tips that year. Waiters throughout the area shared their own overwhelming experiences like Ashley had. So how much did they really leave her?
A Little Gift
The bill had ended up being a little over $100. Stunned, Latella saw the tip the customers left behind was for $500. After viewing Latella's hard work, they wanted to gift her something extra. Latella was elated — until she realized she'd actually misread the tip. It wasn't actually for $500...
Monetary Gain
Ashley Latella's work during that shift earned her a $5,000 tip from the three men. After the shock of it went away and she and Carlos found out why customers at the student-filled Seagrape Cafe were dishing out such a hefty gratuity, Ashley knew exactly what to do with the money.
Keeping it Going
The customers were selfless with their money, so Ashely realized she had to return the favor. Instead of keeping the five grand, she decided to pay it forward. She took a trip into town and went to the toy store. She loaded up her shopping cart for her own special cause.
Who Need It Most
The bountiful amount of toys Ashley purchased went to Al's Angels. The charity had been helping children for over twenty years, guiding young ones going through cancer, rare blood diseases, and the financial strain it put their parents under. The toys were given to children who needed some happiness.
Perfect Timing
Long before her shift that night, Ashley was already handing over donations to the charity. From toys to non-perishable food, she wanted to do her part in helping the cause. With the arrival of the three customers, Ashley finally found her opportunity to offer the charity an even bigger donation. The selflessness of Tips for Jesus had continued.
Ideal Patrons
On Instagram, a page dedicated to the Tips of Jesus has shared photos of servers holding up their prized checks. American Express was used to transfer the money and several times, the customers added their phone number to the bill. Nothing would stop them from making sure the money all went through.
No End in Sight
Ashley Latella was just one of many restaurant staff members whose stressful work load was appreciated. The social media page has posts dating back to 2013. Since then, countless servers have discovered the financial surprise Ashley did.
From Glory to Pain
Waiters are on their feet all day, dealing with drama from the kitchen and from the customers. It can be tough to keep your cool, especially when you're making a living off tips, as Ashley knew. Nightmare customers have a chance to completely waste your time and hurt your pockets, and can change your life in the worst of ways.
Pizza Break
Like Ashley, Armando Markaj was a waiter serving some eccentric guests. Karen Vinacour and her daughter were having a busy day: the 79-year-old had just sold her home and was house hunting for the new perfect space. Taking a break from condo shopping, the two decided to stop in for a slice at the famous Patsy’s Pizzeria, where Armando worked. They were about to change his life.
Detail-Oriented
Armando served the mother and daughter. He’d been working at Patsy’s for nearly a decade and knew every inch of the restaurant, including its wall of signed celebrity photos. When Karen stopped in, she noticed this wall too. They had a pleasant conversation about the pics, until things went off the rails.
Where are the Women?
“I knew [Patsy’s] was a very special restaurant,” Karen said in a later interview. “We were talking and chatting away, and then there was this little exchange with the waiter about no women on the wall.” She noticed the collection was missing something, and she conveyed those feelings to Armando.
Bad Answer
Karen stated that the wall didn't have enough photos of women. "There's a bunch of women," Armando responded, only for the customer to shoot back, "Not as much as there should be." From there, Armando tried to defuse the conversation with a joke, but that only made things worse.
Not Laughing
The waiter tried to give the gender imbalance a humorous spin. "Well, summer is coming, probably women don't like to eat pizza as much," he said to explain the man-heavy selection. Armando said the quip with a smile on his face, meaning no harm, but to Karen and her daughter, this was no laughing matter.
No Tip!
Armando shuffled back to the kitchen, but Karen and her daughter weren't going to let that unprofessional remark slide. “Well, my daughter’s kind of feisty and she didn’t like that. So, we didn’t tip [Markaj],” she said. They didn’t stop there, either.
Women Eat Pizza
Along with leaving a big zero on the tip line, Karen wanted Armando to understand why he was getting stiffed. “And we wrote on the note, ‘Women eat pizza, and by the way, have you heard that women don’t leave tips?’” she said. We’re assuming Karen and her daughter were quite proud of themselves when they left Patsy’s.
Moving On
After they left, Armando said he took their note in stride and started cleaning their table for his next group of diners. Though Armando saw how his joke was in poor taste, he also noted that Patsy's did indeed have photos of many famous women, including Chirlane McCray, Christine Quinn, and Barbara Walters. But then something else caught his eye.
Suspicious Envelope
Their note wasn’t the only thing Armando found on Karen’s table. She left something else extremely important. “Saturdays are pretty busy and I was very close to taking everything left on the table and throwing it out when I saw an envelope,” he said. If he had thrown that paper in the garbage, it would have been a disaster.
The Right Thing
“I just pulled up the flap and I saw ‘Citibank’ and thought it was important,” Armando said. “So, I ran out to the street to look for [Vinacour], but she was gone.” Even though the two had an awkward exchange, Armando still tried to do the right thing and return the money.
A Lot of Money
This wasn’t a small check either — Karen accidentally left something major at the restaurant: $423,987.55. “Normally we just put things left behind in the lost and found box in the back. But I wasn’t going to do that with almost half-a-million dollars,” Armando said.
Billionaire Customer?
Because Armando couldn’t catch Karen and her daughter, he immediately gave the check to his boss, Frank Brija. Frank was shocked someone was carrying that kind of money. “We thought for sure it was a billionaire or something who came in here, because who walks around with a check like that?” he said.
Not What it Seems
Though it was a big check, Karen wasn’t some kind of ultra-wealthy person. This check was from the sale of her house, and money Karen had been saving. She was a retired social worker and brought the check with her, so she could pay cash for a condo. Her entire life was riding on that money.
Delayed Reaction
It wasn’t until the next day that Karen realized her check was missing. “We’d pulled out my papers to go through all the financials again [at Patsy’s],” she said. “I had no idea we left it behind. [But] I figured ‘it’s a check, I’ll just go to the bank and ask them to stop it.’”
That’s Not Good
Karen met a nasty surprise at Union Square’s Citibank. “[The bank] said they couldn’t immediately cancel it because it was a cashier’s check. I would have to wait at least three months before they could even start the process, and only if someone didn’t cash it in the meantime. My world just collapsed.”
Searching for the Money
Karen and her daughter searched all the places she’d visited that day. “[The coffee shop] said they didn’t have it," she said, and then a call to Patsy's resulted in her being told "nobody knew anything about a check." Karen was ready to give up hope, but there was one piece of the puzzle she was missing.
Contacting Karen
She called the wrong Patsy's location! Over at the correct Patsy’s, Frank and the rest of the staff were determined to find a way to contact Karen. Frank decided to enlist his son, Adem, for help — and eventually, emailed the New York Daily News to get the publication’s assistance.
Reuniting the Parties
Five days later, a journalist from the New York Daily News finally found Karen’s contact information and called her about the check. Once she realized the check’s location, she immediately hailed a cab and took it back to Patsy’s.
Full of Gratitude
Karen was nervous when she arrived but quickly made up with Armando. “[Vinacour] apologized, [and] the apology was accepted,” he said. “She offered to give me a tip, but you know what, I [kept hold of the check] for the sake of myself. So, I was like, ‘I’m not taking the tip now.’”
A Second Impression
While Karen didn’t have a good first impression of Armando, she definitely had a memorable second one. “What an amazing young man,” she said. “He could’ve thrown it in the garbage. I mean, he had that option of throwing it in the garbage, because we were not very nice to him.”
Seeing the Women
Once Karen had her check, Frank gave her a tour of their celebrity wall to point out all of the famous women who’d stopped at Patsy’s. He also took her picture, so she could be on the wall too. They were glad to have the chance to make up.
Stressful Job
Serving in a restaurant can be quite a stressful job. Even though the customer isn't always right, people like Frank working in the food industry make their living off tips, and therefore, are at the mercy of satisfied customers.
Odd Request
That being said, it's difficult to comply with every patron during your shift, especially if they make an odd request. This was the case for one female bartender in Connecticut when a group of men asked to speak with her and her manager behind closed doors. What the men revealed then was something quite startling...
Ashley Latella
Bartender Ashley Latella worked at a Fairfield, Connecticut bar called the Seagrape Cafe. Like many in the service industry, she had a responsibility to provide her patrons with excellent customer service.
Big Rush
One Saturday in December of 2013, Ashley and her manager Carlos Carmo were working as hard as they could to accommodate a rush of college students who'd flooded in.
Chaotic Bar
"It was so busy," Carlos recalled. "It’s tough to have a conversation with people when the DJ is blasting music and college kids are screaming." In that kind of environment, connecting with customers was rare.
Regular Guys
The clientele that night included a group of three ordinary men. Carlos (pictured) described them as "early forties, you know, good shape, looked good." Other than that, he didn't think there was anything remarkable about them.
Settle In Private
When the men finished their drinks, they made an unusual request of Ashley, who had been serving them: they wanted to settle their bill in private. Naturally, she was somewhat taken aback, but she obliged and led them to the kitchen.
Feeling Suspicious
Ashley was confused. Had she done something wrong? After all, it was her job to provide the best customer service possible, and if she failed in that, it could hurt her manager's reputation.
Awkward Situation
You can't really blame Ashley for feeling like she might've been walking into a risky—or at least, an extremely awkward—situation. Why would a restaurant tab need to be settled in private?
Checking With Her Manager
With that in mind, she took the proper precautions and asked her manager for help. "I told [Carlos] to go make sure everything was okay," Ashley explained. "We wanted to be sure they weren’t upset about anything."
Unexpected Response
As it turned out, the case was actually quite the opposite. These men wanted to tip all four of the bartenders who had been working that busy night, which was a generous offer in itself. But then the men asked to do something else...
Massive Tip
One of the men handed Carlos the bill for the tip—and Carlos could not believe his eyes. "We originally thought it said 500 and we were so happy," Carlos said. "And they were like, 'No, look at the receipt again. And I saw another zero."
Bursting Into Tears
The group's bill only came out to $112, but they tipped $5,000! "That's when my face... just turned white," Carlos said. Ashley added that she "burst out into tears because I was so happy and thankful."
Hugging It Out
In her three years as a bartender, this was by far the biggest tip Ashley had ever received. "Afterward I gave him a hug," she said of the man who handed Carlos the bill. "It was such a nice gesture."
Tips For Jesus
It wasn't the first time these men tipped such a large amount on their bill. Apparently, they belonged to a group called Tips for Jesus, whose mission, as described on their Instagram account, was: "Doing the Lord's work, one tip at a time."
Spreading The Love
That month was a particularly active time for the group; not only were they generous to the Seagrape Cafe staff, but they tipped $11,500 to three separate restaurants in Manhattan. And they didn't stop there!
Adding Those Zeros
The group continued to extend unparalleled generosity to servers and bartenders across the country. One bartender, pictured here, was given $1,000 on an $85 tab! At other bars, Tips for Jesus has offered as much as $10,000.
Paying It Forward
It would be understandable if they kept it for themselves, but Ashley and her coworkers decided to pay the generosity forward. "Next morning, after we got that tip I said, 'It's time to go to the toy store,'" Ashley said.
Buying Out The Toy Store
The toys she purchased were all collected for Al's Angels, a local toy drive. "I'm a real estate agent during the day and I work here at night. I've been trying to gather toys at my office... toys, blankets," Ashley revealed.
Believer In Karma
As for Carlos, the remarkable generosity that the men showed to him and his staff affirmed his belief in karma. That was exactly why he wanted to be generous to others himself!
Always Tipping Extra
"When I go out to dinner with with my girlfriend we always say, 'Let's tip them a little extra,'" Carlos said, before adding, "joking around, never knowing that this would come back."
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