People who strive to be kind to others are like a breath of fresh air in a society that is so rife with hatred and negativity. Their acts of generosity actually pay them back tenfold and have a positive ripple impact on the rest of the globe.
Working a 17-hour shift on a Sunday, Megan King works at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery and still takes the time to pay attention to an elderly customer’s needs but her customer felt differently. One of them, however, was an older woman who had been through devastating loss and King made her feel more at ease.
“Megan King shared two special photos with her Twitter followers in a now-viral tweet with more than 600,000 likes. The first is a picture of a handwritten note she’d received with her tip. The second is a picture of her reaction to the note, which shows King smiling and in tears,” according to Newsweek.
The note left by the elderly lady overwhelmed the waitress: “Thank you very much for your kind service. This was my first time eating out alone since my husband passed. I was hoping I could get through it.”
The waitress spoke to Newsweek and told her story of what happened. King’s tweet, sharing the message, simply wrote, “in pain.” King explained, “She [the customer who left the note] came in about halfway through my 17-hour shift, and it was on Sunday, which is always pretty busy.”
The young waitress also recalled that the diner constantly turned to look at King as she was eating and appeared to be “a bit sad,” King said, “About halfway through her meal, it started to slow down so we chatted for a few minutes. Small talk, nothing too deep. She told me she was almost 70 and has been slowing down a bit. She said she just wanted to stop by an old favorite for a bite.”
“In retrospect, I wish I would’ve taken her quiet as an invitation. I think that’s what she wanted, looking back. She kept looking up at me so I assumed something wasn’t right with her meal or that she needed something,” said King.
“I guess she did, in a way. [She needed] an ear,” she added.
“I was very surprised. As soon as I read that she’d lost her husband, I lost it,” shared King. The note shows that King’s attentiveness had a huge impact, even though she also wishes she had spent more time with the grieving widow. And, in turn, King as well was affected by the elderly woman.
King continued, “I had to use the restroom to get myself together enough to tend to my other tables even though I really didn’t have time to take a rest.”
The widow’s note impacted the waitress’s internet fans as well. One reviewer remarked, “[T]hat’s super sad, but also sweet at the same time, I just wanna give whoever wrote this note a hug. (I really don’t wanna admit this made me cry).”
Others, however, used King’s social media post as justification to start an online feud. Many people jumped to assumptions about how big the tip was because it looked relatively little in the picture.
A commenter said, “Are you crying because of that 1 dollar tip or the note because I would be crying because of the first one.” King explained that the woman’s lunch cost $11 and that she left a $3 tip in response, acted swiftly to stand up for the widow, “Not everyone can afford to tip well.”
“Old people who live on fixed income deserve to get out for a nice meal. Big tippers make up for it anyway. I’m serving them. You aren’t. I’m standing by that, thanks,” the waitress declared, shutting down the criticism.
King said that while her tip was “more than enough,” she wouldn’t have worried if it had been less because “she was sweet and simple to take care of.”
“A lot of our customers are older and living on fixed incomes, so they tip what they can. They are always welcome, no matter how much or little they tip,” King told Newsweek.
Sources: TapHaps, GodUpDates, NewsWeek
