Anyone who has ever worked in the service industry will tell you how stressful it can be to work at a bar or a restaurant. Some people can become antsy when they’re waiting for their food and drinks, or if something they ordered doesn’t really meet their expectations. Other people get annoyed if they wait for their server for too long, even if the bar or restaurant is cramped. It’s important to remember that servers such as bartenders and waiters are just people and not superheroes and sometimes they make mistakes. Of course, many customers are emphatic and full of understanding. The only question is, are you going to serve a rude or a nice customer?
A bartender from Connecticut was having a very busy night working at a bar that was packed to the brim. She was exhausted and when a group of customers asked if they could speak to her privately, she had no idea what to expect. Since this request came from a group of men she had never seen before in her life, she decided to ask her manager for help. However, what these customers did was very unexpected.
Seagrape Café’s Bartender, Ashley
Ashley Latella was a bartender like any others, she worked hard at the Seagrape Cafe in Fairfield, Connecticut and always tried her best.
She knew that her customers’ happiness and satisfaction were her responsibility so she always worked tirelessly to provide anyone who walked into the bar the best possible service. Even though it’s not an easy job, Ashley was a professional. However, she never expected that something like this could ever happen to her.
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A Night Like Any Other
One stormy Saturday evening in December, the bar was just as busy as usual. It was full of college students who were taking a break from their exhausting finals and the Christmas spirit was in the air. It’s probably an understatement to say that it was a busy night.
Ashley was very confused by the swarm of college students that piled into her bar and both Ashley and her manager, Carlos Carmo, were quite overwhelmed by the situation. Carmo said that it was extremely busy that night and because of the DJ who was blasting music and the college students who were yelling rather than talking, it was “tough to have a conversation.”
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A Group of Strangers
At this part of the story, we’re introduced to the three strange men. While most of the other customers were loud and rowdy college students, these men were the complete opposites. According to Carlos, they were in their early forties, good looking and they seemed to be in good shape.
Nothing besides that seemed out of the ordinary and neither Carlos nor Ashley expected them to anything out of the ordinary. However, anyone who has worked as a bartender of waiter for some time knows that the quiet customers could possibly be the craziest ones. The ones who hide their cards and have strange requests.
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Speaking of Strange Requests
These three men had a request that left Ashley flabbergasted. When they first wanted to talk to her, she figured they were just old customers but she was still surprised and put off by what they had to say to her. After they finished their drinks, they didn’t want to settle their bill right then and there. Instead, they asked her if they could pay their bills in private.
She couldn’t imagine what they could say to her that couldn’t be said in a crowded bar where nobody would overhear them anyway. She couldn’t understand why they wanted privacy and her mind started to race, trying to figure out the motive behind this request.
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Overthinking Everything
It’s not hard to imagine what kinds of thoughts Ashley had in her mind. It’s always a risk to work in a bar, especially if you’re a woman. These were three fully grown men and she was a young bartender. She couldn’t know if they were dangerous since she had never seen them before in her life. On the other hand, they could have been nice people who had a good reason for asking her to talk in private.
Maybe they found her attractive, maybe they had an issue with how she did something, or maybe they just wanted to compliment her for being an excellent bartender. There were so many possibilities and since there was only one way to find out what was going on, she knew she needed some help.
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Calling the Manager
She was thankful that her manager Carlos was at the bar and she decided that she would only agree to talk to the three men in private only if Carlos joined them.
When Carlos agreed, she was relieved. No matter if the situation turned out to be dangerous, or the men simply had a complaint she knew that she could handle it with her manager’s help. She felt safe knowing that Carlos would be there for support.
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They Never Saw It Coming
After Ashley asked Carlos to investigate the situation and make sure that there was nothing wrong, he went over to the men to see what was going on. All they wanted to know if they were upset about anything and to avoid any trouble.
However, when they finally went somewhere more private, they found out that these three strangers weren’t upset. In fact, they were very satisfied with the service and so they said something very interesting to Ashley and Carlos.
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Impressed With the Service
These three men spent all their time there observing the four bartenders while they handled such a busy night and so many demanding customers. They were very impressed with what they saw.
Carlos and Ashley were very relieved when they said that all they wanted was to give the bartenders a tip. However, tipping is nothing out of the ordinary so they still weren’t sure why these customers wanted to talk about this in private.
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A Generous Tip
Ashley and Carlos soon found out why they asked to settle their check-in private. It turned out that the tip was quite large, and the men didn’t want to draw too much attention to themselves.
One of the three handled a check to Carlos and the manager was extremely shocked when he saw the number on it. He could see the amount of $500 and it seemed incredible to him that anyone would give such a generous tip. But then he was asked to look a bit more closely.
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Count the Zeros
Even though Carlos was convinced that the tip was $500, he still listened to the strangers when they asked him to look at the check one more time. When he saw another zero, he realized how wrong he was.
It turned out that these men had tipped Carlos and his staff a whopping $5,000. If Carlos and Ashley were beyond grateful that the tip was $500, you can only imagine how shocked and excited they were when they realized how large the number really was. However, Ashley still had the best reaction.
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Ashley’s Break Down
Carlos’ shock was obvious when his face turned pale white, but Ashley had a much stronger reaction. When she later talked about it, she said that she had burst into tears.
Even though tips are how most people in the service industry make a living and they’re a huge part of their salaries, almost nobody is ever this generous when tipping. Ashley was so moved by the gesture that she even gave one of the men a big hug.
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The Mysterious Tippers
Even though their bill was only $112, they decided to leave a $5,000 tip and this, of course, brings forth a lot of questions, but primarily: who were these men?
They could have been just about anyone. Wealthy businessmen, professional athletes, billionaires. One thing was certain, they were people who didn’t think twice about tipping $5,000. However, another question remains: why exactly had they chosen Ashley and Seagrape’s Café?
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Doing the Lord’s Work
It turned out that these weren’t some ordinary men who just wanted to be generous at a local bar. They’re actually a group called Tips for Jesus, who claim that they’re “doing the Lord’s work, one tip at a time.”
They believe that if they give people tips, they can make the world a better place, even if it’s one server at a time. There’s no denying that they made the staff of Seagrave's Café feel like they were really appreciated for their hard work. However, they weren’t the only lucky people who were visited by these tippers.
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Across the Entire Country
It turns out that Tips for Jesus had been visiting bars all around the country and giving large tips to the hard-working waiters and bartenders who deserved them. Just recently the visited three different restaurants in Manhattan where they tipped the workers a total of $11,500.
In one bar, a bartender got a $1,000 tip for an $85 tab and according to some rumors, Tips for Jesus can even offer $10,000 at certain places.
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Spreading the Love
Ashley was extremely grateful for the tip she received, and she didn’t want to keep all of that money just for herself. She wanted to use the money for a good cause, so the girl went to a toy store, bought a ton of toys and donated them to a local toy drive, Al’s Angels.
Ashley proved that she was deserving of such a generous and thoughtful gesture because she knew how one good deed can lead to another.
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Choosing the Right Person
However, Ashley’s decision to use a part of her tip to buy toys for needy children wasn’t just an impulsive decision. It turns out that Ashley had been donating what she could to the needy for some time.
“I’ve been trying to gather toys at my office. Toys, blankets,” she said. So, it seems fitting that Tips for Jesus picked her for the tip like they knew she was going to put the money in good use.
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Carlos’ Realization
As for Carlos, the money he received from Tips for Jesus had a very interesting effect, it sparked a sort of belief within him.
He says that after the good men from Tips for Jesus visited his bar, he finally understood that everything he believed in up to that point was proven correct. It instilled his belief in karma because he is a strong believer in doing what’s right. He then talked about what he’s like when he goes out to eat.
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Believing in Karma
When Carlos goes out to eat with his girlfriend, they always tip them a little extra. However, they don’t do this because they thought something good was going to come out of it.
Carlos said that he does this because it’s the right thing to do. “I guess it’s just good karma,” he said. It’s a good thing that Tips for Jesus decided to reward two people who were just as generous as they were.
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Expanding the Mission
It turns out that Tips for Jesus decided to keep their mission going and expand it outside of America. They are now traveling all around the world, surprising unexpected but deserving bartenders.
After they went to Russia, they posted a picture to their Instagram with a bartender ecstatic over a tip, and in the caption, they wrote: “Anna. Thank you for putting up with our awful attempts at speaking the Russian language. We tried.”
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Tips as Real as They Can Be
One of their pictures taken at Yellowstone Garage in Wyoming shows that these tips are actually real.
The thought of Tips for Jesus one day walking into your workplace makes you wish to become a bartender much larger. In the picture which was taken in Wyoming, the generous men received a bill for $173, but their overall payment was $5173. However, one question still remains.
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What Is Their Money Source?
Considering that these men donate large amounts of money to bartenders all over the world, it’s only natural to wonder where all of that money is coming from. Honestly, nobody knows because these men are quiet about this topic, but we can still speculate.
It just begs the question who would want to donate that much money to bartenders? Even though they deserve it, there are still many deserving people all over the world.
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Mysterious Donors
One idea that could explain the source of all that money is that since they’re a Christian organization, the money may be donated by religious observers.
On the other hand, it might not be a group of religious people, but maybe just one very wealthy Christian who wants to donate his money to a worthy cause.
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A Three Dollar Bill
We’ve already seen these methe n give $5,000 tips to a bill that were $100 and higher. However, once they added a $5,000 tip to a bill that was only $3. They post pictures of their tips on Instagram, and sometimes people comment on their posts.
One Instagram user by the name of “eladioalbornoz” wrote in all caps how they were a student who desperately needed money. “I would love to get help from you,” they wrote.
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Everyone Wants a Visit from Tips for Jesus
Many people would love for Tips for Jesus to walk into their bar. One person from Thailand wrote how it would be wonderful if they paid them a visit. He said it would be “an honor.”
“Even our main religion is not Christian but we do believe God has no love boundaries,” they wrote. Unfortunately, even though they obviously have a lot of it, their money isn’t limitless and they can’t give some to everybody, even if they wanted to.
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Another Grateful Bartender, Amber
One other young woman who got a generous tip was a girl by the name of Amber. On an Instagram post, Tips for Jesus thanked the girl who had a very grateful expression on her face.
Even though she looks like she’s not quite sure what happened to her, she still looks like she doesn’t think she deserves all of that money. However, those people are most often the ones who deserve such a generous contribution. Way to go, Amber, you deserved this.
YUP, THAT WAS THE LAST ONE.
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