Stories of Kindness from Around the World

This happened to me years ago when I was a waitress, but I still remember this specific incident so vividly. As the end of the night was approaching, fifteen minutes before our restaurant closed, a gentleman came in.  I was the unfortunate waitress who got to stay after closing to take his order and serve him his food.

The customer was impeccably difficult was quite openly upset with how his food was prepared, slightly overdone, perhaps a medium rare when he had requested rare. He sent his order back twice. When it eventually arrived to his liking, he needed a pot of coffee brewed fresh. Meanwhile, my managers and our cooks were breathing down my neck, as they wanted the last customer of the day to finally leave so that we could close up shop and go home.
 
At this point I was frustrated and tired. I had stayed 45 minutes past closing and was completely exhausted.  I did not even want to sit down because I knew my knees would give out and it would hurt terribly to get back up.  On top of everything, I knew this guy would probably not tip very well, seeing as he was so unimpressed with his high-maintenance yet inexpensive meal. Nonetheless, I tried to give him good service.
 
Then in the last ten minutes, as he was finishing up his burger, I was refilling his coffee and somehow accidentally spilled it on the table as well as his plate. It was late and I must have been distracted – I don’t even know how this happened! Of course I apologized profusely and mopped it up, but everything was shut down in the kitchen, so there was no chance of getting him another plate of food. Knowing this man’s previous temperament, I had a certain expectation of how he might react.  He took his napkin out to help me soak up the mess and prevent it from dripping onto his pants. He asked to speak to the manager, so I motioned for my boss to come over to the table.

At this point, he really surprised me. Instead of reiterating his complaints and asking us to comp his meal, he simply said, “This young lady’s done a fine job. You need to keep her around as long as you can!” I was shocked.  After the incident, my boss cashiered the customer’s bill, and I eagerly went home.

The next morning when I came to work and picked up my tips (if a customer charges it on a credit card, you often don’t get it till the next day), I noticed that I had much more money than I had anticipated. The customer had offered a $15 gratuity for his $8 dinner. I was floored! People are much nicer after you feed them!