The Day A Total Stranger Unexpectedly Gave Me 200 Dollars
No, this is not clickbait. Just a reminder that there are still good people in this world.
Yesterday, I went into work expecting my day to be just like all the rest. I’ve been trying to pick up more shifts within the past few weeks, so I agreed to working a double, open to close, without taking a break. I knew that through doing so I would make a nice chunk of change, but I had no idea the very pleasant surprise that was in store for me.
For the past five years, I have worked at my local Red Robin. The first three years I spent hosting, then two years later I moved up to serving, which I have been doing since.
For those who have not heard of Red Robin, it is a family-friendly restaurant known for its vast amount of burgers, milkshakes and bottomless french fries. I thoroughly enjoy working there, as I have made life-long friendships through some of my co-workers, I have developed great relationships with my regulars , and I love working for a company that strives for greatness everyday.
Our company's motto is “better for being here” and I truly feel that I am better for being “here”. Through working in a restaurant that can be fast paced and quite busy, I have learned time management, patience and most importantly, kindness. Through working here, I have experienced quite the period of personal growth.
With each guest I accommodate, I do all I can to make their experience as pleasant as possible. I always make it my goal to communicate with kids, keep a smile on my face, and most importantly, be me. This typically lands me some pretty high tips, but nothing can compare to what happened yesterday.
A typical Sunday at Red Robin can get real busy, real fast. Families pile in after church, sports teams of up to 30 come in after games, and many elderly regulars come in each Sunday as part of their Sunday afternoon, post-church routine. Yesterday was no exception.
By 4 o ‘clock, I was starting to fade fast. I had started working at 10:30 and I was running on only a couple hours of sleep. I knew that I still had at least five hours ahead, so I needed to do something to get my mojo back.
I decided to take a five minute breather and walk in the back to eat a salad so I could get a little something in my system to keep me going. I have a severe caffeine intolerance, so coffee was out of the question.
After my short spurt of “me time”, I felt much more rejuvenated and ready to take on the rest of the shift.
About thirty minutes into me getting back into the groove of the shift, my section buddy was phased (she was cut and stopped taking tables), so I was left to myself in a nine table section that was easily available for seating large parties.
Much to my surprise, we didn’t start out as busy as we were forecasted, so I was able to be much more attentive to my guests than when it gets crazy busy.
A table of three guys, most likely around the same age as I in their mid-twenties were seated, and right away I knew they were going to be a nice group to take care of. Each ordered a beer and being employed by a corporation, I am obliged to card each of them. Many times, I get a lot of attitude when I ask to see ID, but these guys all understood that I was doing so to protect my job.
There wasn’t as much small talk as I like to share with my tables, as the dinner rush was beginning to pile in and I was getting busier with each table I got sat with, but I still made sure to check on them when necessary, keep their drinks filled, and their fry baskets full.
By the time it came time for them to pay, I was weeded. I had eight out of my nine tables full, one of those tables being a twelve top, so there was no way of doing more than thanking them for their visit and saying goodbye.
No matter how busy I am, I still like to go and say bye to my guests and thank them for coming in. I also make sure that everything went through successfully with their payment on the ziosk.
This is where it gets crazy.
As I was walking over to say goodbye, two of the guys were leaving and the other that was left was still standing at the booth, holding his jacket. As I got closer, I noticed a pile of money spread out in the shape of one of those fans that are perfect for a hot day.
I knew that they had already paid, as the light that indicates a payment was green on the ziosk, so in my mind I assumed he needed me to break the bills for him.
As I reached for them, I noticed that there was a hefty amount of 20’s and I had no time to get change to break such a big amount of money. During this time, he didn’t say a word so I asked,
“Would you like me to break these bills for you”?
I also noticed that there was a little note on the table saying “Thank you” with a smiley face drawn on it.
And with that he said,
“Nope, that’s all for you”.
Stunned.
Nauseous.
Speechless.
So unbelievably unsure of what to do that I actually stood there for what seemed like a lifetime just staring at the money, then glancing at him. Then staring at the money and glancing once more.
These were only some of the insane amount of feelings that I felt at this point.
While all of this was going on, my section got real quiet, as all of my other tables were watching it unfold. One of my managers was watching from the kitchen and some of my co-workers in surrounding sections were listening in as well.
I honestly can say that my face felt as if I stuck it right in a running oven with how hot and red it became.
After about a full couple minutes of blabbering, stuttering my words and internally freaking the you-know-what-out, I regained my composure and told him there was no way I could take the money from him.
At this point, I still did not know the exact amount of money I was holding, but I knew it had to at least be well over $100 with all the 20’s that were a part of that little fan.
I looked at the guy, literally with tears in my eyes, feeling like I was going to throw up, shaking life a leaf and he said that I needed to take that money, that I deserved it.
I don’t know about you, but I have nowhere near that much money to be able to just give away because someone “deserves it”. I would do anything to help someone out, but unfortunately at this stage in my life, economical help is nearly impossible from me.
I thanked him probably over 20 times and gave him a big hug, but I still feel I did nothing to show him how much appreciation I had for his unbelievably kind and unselfish gesture.
There have been many occasions in my time at Red Robin (and other times) in which I have felt as if I was going to lose all faith in humanity. In fact, one of my first articles written here on Medium was written on the topic of one of those instances. But having a total stranger do something so remarkably generous and so unexpected regained my belief that there are still some amazing people out there.
I doubt that I will ever see the three of these guys again, and to be quite honest that bums me out a little bit because I would love to thank them again when my head is more straight. What these guys did has made such an impact on me and helped in more ways than I though possible. Not only did they help me to obtain a nice amount of money to put towards my car savings, but they also gave me such an optimistic view on humanity.
I by no means decided to tell this story to boast or brag about one single tip. And if that is what you take away from this, I’m afraid that you’re completely missing the point of this post.
Explaining my experience was to simply validate that there are some pretty great people on this planet.
Whoever you three guys are that decided to make a stressed out waitresses day, I hope and pray that you all have much success and happiness in your lives. It is because of you that my faith in humanity has been completely restored.
