Anyone who’s ever been a server or worked in a restaurant knows that it’s hard work. Running around a dining room and kitchen all night and being on your feet for 7 or more hours at a time while trying to make your customers happy and comfortable is no easy task.
However, many of us have done this type of work at one time or another to put ourselves through school or better our lives in some way.
Server Cayla Chandara moved to Waikiki, Hawaii to pursue her education.
However, because of student loans, she found herself in debt and couldn’t continue her education.
Instead, she worked 80 hours a week at two different restaurants to make ends meet, just barely. She was waiting on an Australian couple at Noi Thai Cuisine and ended up sharing a little bit about herself.
“They asked me where I was from, and I told them I moved here for school but I was kind of in a little bit of debt and I couldn’t go back to school because I couldn’t afford it and the cost of living here,”Chandara told Khon 2.
The diners must have been touched by Chandara’s plight because they left her a 200% tip. Their bill was $200 and tipped her $400.
“I just thought it was so generous of them,” she said. “I never get tipped that big. I had to say thank you. During dinner, they told me where they were staying, so I ran there after work to see if they’d still be there.”
So, Chandara gave them a thank you card, dessert, and some flowers to show her gratitude. She never thought she’d see the couple again, but she did the very next day at her restaurant.
But this time they asked if they could pay off Chandara’s student loan debt which was more than $10,000.
They did say that there was one way that she could thank them: “be your best possible self, dream big, and strive for your goals.” And that’s exactly what Chandara says she will do when she heads back to school to study liberal arts and business.
“I want to make them proud,” she said. “I will take this opportunity with an open heart and be a better person that I can be every day.”
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
source: KHON 2
