January 27th

Nathan:


For those of you who don't know, I run fast food restaurants for a living. I currently work for a restaurant that has a position that we hire for called a carhop. A carhop is much like a waiter but it's a little different. They get tipped like a waiter but usually only up to a $1. Anyways, a few years back at one of my restaurants there was this customer, a lady, who drove a nice white Cadillac Escalade. She would come in and order a Rt. 44 Diet Coke with extra lime once a month. At the time the drink would only cost her $1.07 but when the carhop delivered the order she would tip them $20 (for Christmas she tipped $50). She was a legend at this particular store for my carhops at the time. Everyday, the carhops would be looking for the "Diet Coke with extra lime lady," if the drink was ordered they would rush to the window and see if she was out there and if she was they would either argue over who got to take out the drink or they would make deals to split the tip money. It made there day when she did come.

Last night, Mel and I, dropped the kids off at Awana and went to a Japanese restaurant to have sushi. When I got the bill I remembered the Rt. 44 diet coke with extra lime lady and decided to tip the waiter $30. My back was to the waiter so I didn't get to see his reaction but Mel did. She said at first he looked confused when he looked at the tip but then he looked excited. He then ran over to the waitresses and showed them the tip and they were all kind of looking at us wierd. But our waiter was all smiles and you could tell he was proud. I think we made his day. When driving back to get the kids Mel was telling me the story of how he reacted and I was all giddy inside. Now I think I know why the Rt. 44 diet coke with extra lime lady does what she does. It not only makes the day of the people she tips well but it makes her feel good too, by making someone elses day much brighter.