In another lifetime, before I finished my education, I worked as a waitress (server) and bartender. To be honest, I made a lot of money back in those days. It’s good money if you have the energy to do it. However, this kind of work is well-suited to young folks who have the energy and the physical health to be on their feet all day (or night) long. I can’t imagine doing this kind of very grueling work after I already had my children. But one father of three is doing just that at the moment. On a jammed pack Friday night, an exhausted server and bartender got the shock of his life when a customer left him what appeared to be a tip that was too high for the amount of the bill that he had been given.
David Fabila was serving at a wine bar called House of Oliver and he had just told a coworker that he was exhausted and it was “not my night.” As it turns out, he had just come from his second job and was so exhausted he doubted his stamina to even make it through the tough shift ahead of him. As he was working the patio by himself, David had no idea that he was about to serve a table that would turn not only his night around, but also restore his faith in humanity and give him the strength to keep going. After one of his tables left, David pulled out the check to close it out and realized that their expensive $190-something bill had been doubled with an exorbitant tip in the exact amount of the bill.
The customers had also put a note on the bill, saying, “We’re young, but we’re worth serving.” Let me explain what they meant by this. As a former server, I can tell you that typically, younger people have less money and therefore, in some cases, they tip less. The man who left the tip, Steffen Berr, used to be a server himself, so he probably was aware of this. Steffen explained, “I’ve been in his shoes before too, I used I work as a waiter in a diner in Texas, so I decided to show him what he did is appreciated.” At that time, Steffen was a college student at Sacramento State and he saw how hard David was working.
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Steffen added that he was fortunate enough to be in a position to have the resources to help David out that night, so he just decided to do it. When he saw the amount of the tip, David started chasing after Steffen to make sure he hadn’t made a mistake. Steffen reassured him that the generous tip was totally intentional. To David, it was a blessing in disguise. “God bless you and thank you so much for what you did. You have no what you’ve just done for me,” David told the man who tipped him. He went on to explain that unless you work in the service industry, it’s difficult to understand how much tips can mean to a bartender or server. They’re everything. Usually, these hard-working people are making minimum wage or even less in some states.
Unlike me when I was a server and bartender back in the day, David Fabila’s life is complicated (in a good way) with three children and another one on the way. No doubt this money made a difference in the young family’s week.
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There’s a challenge that’s been going around called the “tip the bill” challenge, which encourages people who can afford it to tip the entire amount of the bill to your servers if they give you good service. Steffen Berr said he wasn’t aware of the challenge, but he likes the idea of it. I do, too. If you can afford to tip well, please do so. You’ll be making a difference to some of the hardest-working folks in the U.S.
