Waffle House waitress denied $1,000 tip, but it all works out in the end
It should've been a heartwarming story right from the start - a North Carolina Waffle House waitress received an extremely generous tip from a good Samaritan during one of her shifts last month.
According to WTTE "Shaina Brown was given a $1,000 tip on Mother's Day. But the single mother of three's excitement didn't last long, and that's because the manager told her the restaurant doesn't accept extremely large tips on debit cards."
WTVD reports the mysterious generous tipper decided to leave Brown that huge chunk of change because he was impressed by her kindness and warm personality.
"He was like, 'I'm going to bless you tonight, I'm going to bless you.' And I didn't think nothing of it," Brown said.
When Brown saw the man write $1,500 on the tip line of his check, she says she couldn't believe her eyes.
According to The Charlotte Observer, the unnamed good Samaritan's only condition was that Brown share $500 with a customer sitting at a table nearby. Brown says she was completely willing to fulfill the man's request - but Waffle House stepped in before she could.
WTVD says Waffle House's policy prevents customers from leaving large tips on credit or debit cards in case the customer decides to dispute the charge or ask for a refund later on.
This didn't sit well with Brown, who The Charlotte Observer says has a car in desperate need of a new transmission.
More major tips:
Brown told WTVD, "It wouldn't be no different if he landed cash on the table, and the manager came and snatched it off the table and said, 'You can't have this,' you know?"
Massive tips from generous customers have become fairly common in U.S. restaurants and bars recently.
But as Think Progress points out, these acts of kindness mask a huge problem in the service industry - establishments are only required to pay tipped workers $2.13 an hour - leading to higher poverty rates among restaurant workers.
Thankfully, someone tipped off the mystery tipper to Brown's predicament, and he sent her a check for $1,000. Brown says she knows who the anonymous man is, and she's extremely grateful to her "hero."
