A well-timed gift can change your life. For one woman, it completely turned it around, gave her hope… and got her fired?
You may have already heard the story of the waitress getting tipped over $4,000, but there have been some new developments.
Social media is a great way to see some encouraging news now and again. Recently, a story swept across all the big “social media’s” when a waitress in Arkansas got a MASSIVE tip as she was working! A local real estate firm had a company meal at her restaurant, Oven and Tap, in Bentonville.
When the party left, they decided to all pitch in $100 each and give it to their waitress, Ryan Brandt, and her coworker.
The massive group (over 40 people) ended up giving over $4,000 to each of the waitresses! The gift soon went viral and people loved it.
“We knew servers were really hit hard through COVID, and it was something that we had come up with to help give back,” Grant Wise told CBS 5.
For Ryan Brandt and her co-worker, it was a lifesaver.
The viral gift seemed to be receding into the past, but it has recently come back to the forefront when people learned that the waitress, Ryan, was fired over it!
Brandt was so excited to have the money, but her shift supervisor told her that she was going to have to split it. Since Brandt’s co-worker also got her own tip, she was a bit confused. The supervisor explained that she needed to pool the tip with her other co-workers, the ones that didn’t even serve the party!
Brandt had been at the restaurant for over three years and NEVER had to do anything like that before.
When the head of the real estate company found out, he called the restaurant, clearly angry. He told the supervisor the tip was intended for Brandt and that he demanded it be given back to her. The supervisor relented, but then something terrible happened.
The next day, Brandt got a call from her restaurant telling her she was fired.
She was shocked and didn’t know what to do. In a later released statement, Oven and Tap explained that the firing wasn’t related to the tip, but they were unwilling to discuss what the reason was. For Brandt, it was clearly connected.
“After dining, this large group of guests requested that their gratuity be given to two particular servers. We fully honored their request,” read the statement provided to local outlets. “Out of respect for our highly valued team members, we do not discuss the details surrounding the termination of an employee.” – CBS 5
When Wise, the head of the real estate company, hear what happened, he set up a GoFundMe for Brandt and released his own video.
Even though we don’t know the details as to why Brandt was fired, Wise believed it to be clear. Soon, the GoFundMe campaign raised over $8,700 for the struggling waitress! For her, it was a lifesaver and a way for her to make payments on her student loans. While we may not ever know what really happened, we do know that Brandt was taken care of!
Check out the video below!
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