No matter how good the food is, having a bad dining experience at your favorite restaurant can ruin an otherwise perfect meal. But if you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, you know how hectic and stressful it can be. Restaurant employees are only human and they have good and bad days just like anyone else.
Steven and Makenzie Schultz, a hard-working Iowa couple and proud parents of twin boys wanted to enjoy a night out at a great restaurant. It took 20 minutes for their server to get their water, another 40 minutes for their appetizer, and over an hour for their meal. While waiting, they noticed their server was running around like crazy and managing 12 tables because one of the servers called in sick.
They both agreed the service was bad but didn’t blame the server. Instead, they realized that it was because the restaurant was understaffed at the time. Both of them worked as servers growing up and hated it but they did for the tips. They knew the server wouldn’t be getting many tips from other customers so they left a $100 tip for their meal that cost $66! It wasn’t their server’s fault and they wanted to reward him for keeping his composure while waiting on so many tables (and probably fielding a lot of customer complaints calmly in the process).
On September 27th, Makenzie and Steven Schultz gave their waiter a $100 tip because they felt he did a good job considering all the customers he handled.
Here is what Makenzie wrote on her Facebook post:
So here’s the deal. Our service tonight sucked. Took 20 minutes to get water, 40 minutes for an appetizer, and over an hour for our entree. People all around us were making fun of the restaurant & how bad the service was. Yeah, it was pretty terrible. But, it was very obvious that the issue was being short-staffed, not the server. He was running around like crazy and never acted annoyed with any table. At one point we counted he had 12 tables plus the bar. More than any one person could handle!
As I sat there and watched him run back & forth and apologize for the wait, I said to Steven… Wow, this used to be us. Waiting tables. I don’t miss it at all and I never loved that job. I did it for the tips. Steven and I agreed it would feel good to make this guys night when he would probably be getting minimal to no tips due to slow service. We walked out before he saw this and I’m not posting this for a pat on the back. I’m just sharing this as a friendly reminder to think of the entire situation before you judge. And always always always remember where you came from.
This couple definitely did pay it forward with a 100$ tip and the server was so happy. This made me think of putting myself in the server’s shoes if I ever have bad service at a restaurant in the future.
Please share this great couple paying it forward with a $100 tip with your family and friends.
