A single mom who is a waitress at a popular West Virginia restaurant received a tip so enormous that she was shaking with excitement as she asked her boss “Can I keep it?”
Newsweek has reached out to DaVinci’s restaurant outside of regular working hours via email for comment.
Why It Matters
IRS rules currently consider tips to be taxable income, and employees who earn over $20 in tips each month must report them. President Donald Trump has called for tax cuts on tips and urged lawmakers to support what he has described as much-needed relief for workers.
What To Know
The server received a $2,000 tip on a $148.41 order at DaVinci’s in Williamstown, on Sunday.
Chris Bender, the owner of the restaurant told Nexstar’s WOWK “She was shaking when she came back and asked me if she could accept it.”
“She was shaking and couldn’t take [it in] and I told her, ‘Yes you can!’”
DaVinci’s, which has been a staple in Williamstown since 1980, shared a photo of the receipt showing the tip to their Facebook page.
Bender told WOWK that the server is a single mother who doesn’t have a phone and is currently driving a car with spare tires.
“She said she’s going to pay her rent and put the rest into her savings,” he said, describing the tip as “much-needed,” and “well-deserved.”
“This is absolutely life changing for her,” he said.
“This is one is the highest anyone has ever given to one of our servers,” Bender told WOWK. She said that she didn’t recognize the customers and that everyone likes the server, describing her as hard working.
“The couple was talking to her about college and she told them she didn’t go to college because she’s a single mother raising a young daughter and couldn’t afford to go. She said she left a job at the hospital because serving here was better for her and her daughter,” Bender said.
Social media users were delighted with the news. One Facebook user commented on DaVinci’s post, “I hope whoever did this, is reading these comments & smiling so big knowing they did that! positive posts like this are so encouraging & inspiring in a world where it’s far & few between.” Another user commented “I love hearing things like this! and especially on a Sunday. I have had several servers over the years (male and female) at Da Vincis that go above and beyond and it is so refreshing to see. We are very lucky to have Da Vincis.”
What People Are Saying
DaVinci’s Restaurant, in a post on Facebook: “There are Sundays, and there are SUNDAYS. Today, one of our servers received an amazing gratuity. You can imagine her excitement! We are so fortunate to have such generous customers.”
President Donald Trump during a March address to Congress: “I’m calling for no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors.”
What’s Next
The “no tax on tips” policy remains under consideration.
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