If you’ve ever worked in the service industry you know firsthand that tips make up and account for the majority of your paycheck.
So when 21-year-old waitress Emily Bauer from Texas received a life-changing tip, she thought that Christmas had come early. Unfortunately, it was taken away from her before she even had a chance to properly celebrate.
It was a busy Sunday
Emily was working a busy Sunday in Red Hook Seafood and Bar in San Antonio, where she had only been a server for about two weeks. The service was taking longer than usual, as Emily’s area was completely full of diners.
A nice man
She made sure to apologize repeatedly to each customer, and one man, in particular, was especially nice to her.
“He was like ‘It’s okay, I’ve owned restaurants and I understand how it is to be a server.’ I was like ‘thank you for understanding,’” Emily told The Post.
Some more time went by, and the man grew impatient of waiting. But instead of putting in a complaint, he did the total opposite.
The man asked for his drinks to be canceled, however, he still requested a receipt. It was only as he left the restaurant that Emily realized he had left her a $2,000 tip, with a sweet little message: “Merry Christmas! Keep working hard!”
Shocked by his receipt
Naturally, Emily was completely overjoyed to have received such a huge amount of money. Her thoughts immediately turned to her two children, who are two and five months old, and she began to dream of giving them a truly magical Christmas.
“I was like ‘oh my gosh’ and I started crying. I was like ‘wow’ and I tried seeing if he was still at the restaurant but he had left already,” Emily recalled. “The first thing that I thought of was my kids. I would be able to finally have a Christmas to give them whatever they want or whatever they need.”
Things took a turn when the manager found out
But sadly, Emily’s dreams were about to come crashing down. As the other servers congratulated her, Emily’s manager walked over and delivered some bad news.
“He said, ‘Rule No. 1. Never accept a tip like that because you’re never going to get it,’” Emily said.
The manager explained that their restaurant could only accept tips of up to $500, but when Emily’s colleagues suggested breaking the tip down into four separate payments of $500, he still refused. It was unclear why this suggestion was turned down.
Apparently, the generous man had called up and asked why the tip wasn’t being processed.
“He said that he left a generous tip and wanted to see if I received it but she said that they couldn’t process it,” Emily recalled. “He said ‘I don’t understand why it’s not being taken out if I have that money in my account.”
Emily then asked if she could call back the man and thank him for his kindness, but once again, the manager refused, claiming that the restaurant didn’t have his contact number.
It had been a rough year for Emily and her family
The whole experience left Emily feeling hugely disappointed. Their family had been going through a “rough year” and had been “praying for something like this.”
“It’s been really hard to look for a job. My boyfriend was working but got laid off because of COVID,” Emily said. “For somebody to just block my blessings, it’s just like what can I do about it?”
The restaurant has been contacted about Emily’s story, but so far, they haven’t replied. We hope that she manages to take home her $2,000 tip in the end! It’s rightfully hers, and it would give her family a Christmas like no other.
Learn more about Emily’s story in the video below and let us know what you think should be the outcome of this story.
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