Staff thought he was just a regular customer until he tipped them $3000 on a $39 check — his identity left them stunned
Many good samaritans like to use the holidays to give something valuable to people and spread Christmas cheer. Some of these gifts might be driven by something that's close to the person's heart as well. A man who frequented a diner left $3000 as a tip for the staff on a $39 check along with a note, as per ABC News. The tip came as a big surprise for the staff at the Brief Encounter restaurant in Bellevue.
"At first, they didn't know who it was," Melanie Bard, the owner of the diner, said, revealing her employees' reactions. The staff even thought that it could have been a mistake, but the note pointed out something else altogether. "You guys do a great job! When I was 7, I washed dishes and my mom cooked in a diner like this. We were dirt poor and didn't have money for Christmas. Hopefully, this will help all of you have a better Christmas," the person wrote for the 12-person staff of the diner. The diner owner revealed that the person was Dwayne Clark, CEO and founder of Aegis Living, an assisted living community. The man frequents the diner on the weekends with his wife.
"He's a great customer when he comes in," the diner owner went on. Clarke has been coming into the diner for the past 8 years and made the donation in honor of his late mom. He told the outlet, "[I wanted to] do something in appreciation of my mother, who's not with us anymore, and because of the Christmas season." The man used to accompany his mother to the diner she worked at. The mom managed to put the CEO and his three siblings through college by herself. "I saw how hard my mom worked for people who weren't always appreciative," the CEO admitted. The man left a tip with a waitress called Julie Wilson, who served him at the diner on that day.
The tip would be split evenly among all the employees of the diner, coming up to $250 per person. The owner felt that the generous tip would come in handy for the employees and would help them have a good Christmas. The CEO expressed that giving something during the holiday season isn't necessarily about the amount of money one can give. "You don't have to give money. You can write appreciative notes and say thank you. It would go a long way to nourish all of us," Clark continued about what a person could do instead.
"I eat there a lot and the people who work there have great attitudes, are really hardworking people," the CEO told TODAY.com. "So when my wife returned to the restaurant from Christmas shopping, we just started talking about the meaning of Christmas. ... I got the check and I said, 'I think we’re going to change some people’s lives today.'" Clark revealed, "I came from a dysfunctional family, the youngest of four children. I had a mom who was divorced; I had a dad who was extremely physically abusive." The man wanted to keep the donation a secret initially but was tracked down through the number he left, in case the credit card company considered it a fraud because of the large amount. Now, he wants to inspire a tipping movement, as per his statement to ABC News.