An on-the-job feel good story.

November 11, 2002 10:23 AM

An on-the-job feel good story. Anonymous customer gives waitresses a hefty tip. Have you ever been unexpectedly rewarded on the job, either from a customer, boss or co-worker? (link via Obscure Store)
posted by Oriole Adams (17 comments total)

'on the job' being a British euphemism for gettin' it on...

So yes, in both scenarios ;-)
posted by i_cola at 10:45 AM on November 11, 2002

This happens quite a bit here in Cape Town. We're in the middle of a tourist boom, and with our favorable exchange rate we get a few stories of waiters/waitresses being left a $100 bill as a tip (or more, with $100 = +- R1000 which is a lot) or so by some high roller tourist.
posted by PenDevil at 10:53 AM on November 11, 2002

Does anyone have a "working" link to this story? The link in the post goes to an error page.

Thanks :)
posted by MeetMegan at 11:05 AM on November 11, 2002

Hmmm...I just tried the link again and it seemed to work OK...here's the URL, though, just in case:

http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=3757052
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:23 AM on November 11, 2002

As far as monetary rewards, I can't say that anything on the scale of that story has ever happened to me. However, in my job I do live chat customer service, and not too long ago, a customer told me she felt led to ask me if there was anything in my life I needed prayer about. As a Christian, I appreciated that quite a bit because I was going through a rough time. Regardless of your opinions on religion, it shouldn't be hard to agree that her motives were genuinely good.
posted by john1800 at 11:28 AM on November 11, 2002

Thanks to all for helping me get to the story! :) I just had to ask about it - The Daily Herald is my hometown paper.

Thanks again!
posted by MeetMegan at 11:37 AM on November 11, 2002

When I was at university, I worked part time at a shoe store. We were set to close at 5:30 on Christmas Eve, when a guy came knocking at our gate. He needed a gift for his girlfriend, and asked if he could quickly come in and buy something for her. My boss and I were the only two left in the store, but we let him in, since he promised to be quick. Five minutes later he left with a pair of boots for his honey, and gave each of us a $50 tip for being nice and reopening the store.

Not half bad...
posted by greengrl at 11:37 AM on November 11, 2002

Boy, Google turns up quite a variety of attributions. Besides the Somoza ones, there's "Arthur Scargill is a bastard, but he's our bastard"; "Reagans [sic] dictum 'Saddam may be a bastard, but he's our bastard' ";"An American president said of President Marcos [etc.]"; "As stated by John Foster Dulles former US secretary of state during the early years of the Cold War. He was referring to a particularly obnoxious South American dictator of a US client state"; and the historically challenged "as Roosevelt said of Noriega" -- not to mention:

und im presseclub am sonntag sagte die amerikanerin - zur erklärung der weltlage:- "he's a bastard - but he's our bastard" - so lustig kann amerikanische außenpolitik sein - meine damen und herren - ja?
posted by languagehat at 11:44 AM on November 11, 2002

D'oh -- I posted that in the wrong thread -- sorry!
posted by languagehat at 11:45 AM on November 11, 2002

I once worked at a burrito joint in Atlanta. One Saturday afternoon, a guy came through the line to get a burrito with his girlfriend. He was making small talk and asking us if we were going to the Lollapalooza concert that day. My co-worker and I said no, we didn't have tickets. Well, he asked if we wanted to go. Turns out he was Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine. He put our names on his list, my friend and I went to the show and had a great time. I've never much cared for RATM's music, but I still think Tom is a damn cool guy.

Oh yeah, I also once waited on Ross Perot and his entire family. Everyone always asks me how much he tipped. Unfortunately, one of his daughters paid and the table was 12 people, so I added the gratuity and didn't get to see how generous a billionaire could be. Ross did, however, assist me in clearing the plates. "Hey ya'll, let's pass those plates down to this fella. Save him a bit o work..."
posted by fletchmuy at 11:56 AM on November 11, 2002

D'oh -- I posted that in the wrong thread -- sorry!

You just have to turn everything into an Iraq thread, don't ya? :P
posted by oissubke at 12:04 PM on November 11, 2002

Actually, I was trying for an Arthur Scargill thread...
posted by languagehat at 12:28 PM on November 11, 2002

Not that this is monetary, but my favorite work-related "reward" story is from when I worked at an on-campus library back in Gainesville...it was a weekend and pretty empty, but I was at the info desk, and a girl & guy came up to me laughing...the girl said, "he just asked me to marry him. Should i marry him?" Although I'm not a big fan of marriage, they looked so happy I said "Yes, go for it." She said, "Okay," kissed him, and accepted.
Livened up my shift. Although I think they took the "Information" sign a little too literally...
posted by anyasar at 1:00 PM on November 11, 2002

I worked tech support for one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the country. One day, a woman called me with an immensely frustrating problem. The problem was something widespread and while easy to fix, it took quite a while to do it. While making small talk, I heard a cat in the background. Being a cat person, I asked her what her cat's name was. She said that the cat didn't have a name. I told her to name the cat after me. She did.

To this day, I get emails from people at that job saying "Yeah, I talked to this lady, and she had a cat named after you..."
posted by bryanzera at 1:20 PM on November 11, 2002

languagehat: Were you going, perhaps, for "Somoza may be a bastard, but at least he's a good tipper"?

Interestingly, this is the same area that often sees gold coins dropped in Salvation Army kettles -- every year since 1982. The drops vary geographically but are frequently in the northwest suburbs. (The Army has encouraged the practice, naturally, and it can also be found in other parts of the country.) They're also affected by the economy suggesting more than one source.
posted by dhartung at 2:11 PM on November 11, 2002

I never really worked a job that counted on tips, but when I was in the 101st Airborne at Ft. Campbell, KY I got a great reward from Anheuser-Busch. Our first sergeant was asked to name 4 exceptional soldiers from his company to the colonel. He named 3 co-workers and I. The next morning a huge luxury coach with "Budweiser" written down the side arrived and picked us up. The bus was stocked with free beer and free clothes. It drove us to an all-expenses paid weekend in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. Free tickets to the derby, all concerts for the weekend, free suites, free everything. I felt undeserving but grateful.
posted by ttrendel at 9:58 PM on November 11, 2002

Back when I was going to school for massage therapy, we worked in a student clinic to get certification hours. The school got paid for our work, but we didn't, and we were told not to ask for tips (we didn't have to turn them down if offered, we just weren't supposed to act like it was expected).

Our record tip came out to four times the hourly rate. It came from an exotic dancer who came in as a walk-in after working a double shift. We figured there was a person who (a) really needed the work done and (b) appreciates the value of tips. (And no, it was not all in one dollar bills).
posted by Karmakaze at 6:39 AM on November 12, 2002