A diner at a Wisconsin restaurant recently left no tip — not a single cent — on an expensive meal they ordered.
Ordinarily this would be disappointing but not newsworthy, but it’s what the diner left in place of a tip — a homophobic note — that makes this a story worth looking into.
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You eat in a restaurant, you leave a tip.
This is kind of the understanding, right? You can adjust your tip for excellent or lousy service, but it’s customary to leave a tip.
To not leave a tip at all is really not a cool move.
Here’s the bill in question.
As you can see, there’s no tip on the $142 final bill. There is a little note, though, stating that the service was good but that they’re not going to tip sinfull (sic) homosexuals.
I’m not sure where in the Bible it says certain people shouldn’t be tipped, but whatever.
It sparked an outrage.
After it was posted on the Facebook page of the nonprofit Do Good Wisconsin, commenters shared their thoughts.
If you’re curious, Jame 1:3 states: “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”
Or, in other words: maybe running into a gay person can help you grow as a person, rather than be hateful.
The kindness of strangers saved the day.
Nonprofit founder Eric Salzwedel rallied the random strangers of the internet to give the server a proper tip.
The final tally came in at more than $4,500, which is a pretty good payday on a $142 bill.
“To the folks who felt it was necessary to write this hateful note and not tip…don’t worry me and about 250 others will cover the tip for you,” Salzwedel wrote on Facebook .
It’s heartwarming.
While the initial actions of the diner are very disappointing, it’s nice to see that, at least in this case, love triumphed over hate.
Salzwedel says the server didn’t want to be named, but was exremely grateful for the generosity.
It’s one way to tip someone.
This story kind of underlines how tipping culture is messed up. Like, servers are generally paid poorly, with the expectation that tips will help make up the difference.
But when tips are expected but not legally required, it opens the door for customers to withhold tips for reasons like this, which had nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of service.
In any case, well done!
We’d love to know what you think of this story, so be sure to let us know in the comments. Also, if you’ve ever worked in the service industry, tell us about the worst or best tips you ever received.
