Tipping culture is one that is discussed heavily online, with seemingly everyone weighing in to give their two cents.
While a lot of the arguments seem to take place when a ‘small’ tip is provided, a show of your appreciation in the region of $4,400 is certainly next level.
Ryan Brandt was serving a table of more than 40 business executives at the Arkansas restaurant last year when she was handed the massive tip for her service.
Her reaction after receiving the tip was quite incredible:
The exciting moment was uploaded to Instagram by one of the dinner’s attendees, Rebecca Soto, who captioned the heartwarming clip: “I’m humbled to have been part of something so beautiful and generous. To bless someone else without previously knowing them.”
She continued: “I have been blessed, so it is wonderful to pay it forward and bless someone else.
“God bless all who contributed and the servers who received it. I pray it may be multiplied and impact their life for the better.”
However, Ryan’s elation was very much short lived as she was fired shorty after.
The viral video shows businessman Grant Wise giving the massive tip to Ryan.
“Everybody at this table has contributed or tipped $100 for you, and for the other waitress, who unfortunately had to go home because she wasn’t feeling well,” he told the waitress.
“And then we put it out to our social media channels, and we actually had quite a bit more money sent in. So we are tipping you a total of $4,400 for you to split with the other girl that took care of us.”
As you’d probably expect, Ryan was left feeling overwhelmed by the whole occasion – as you can imagine.
She thanked the table at every opportunity, and was left in tears by the touching gesture.
The jubilant didn’t last long though.
After the momentous occasion, the server revealed to KNWA News: “I was told that I was going to be giving my cash over to my shift manager, and I would be taking home 20 per cent.”
She also told the outlet that she had been working at Oven & Tap for over three years and was never instructed to share her tips with her coworkers before.
Once Wise found out about the news, he allegedly asked for the money back, Distractify reported at the time.
After getting the tip back, the diner then gave it back to Ryan but outside the premises this time to ensure she would keep every last cent of it.
Ryan claimed she re-entered the restaurant only to find out she had been fired for taking the money – something Oven & Tap have denied.
Ryan told the local news station: “It was devastating.
“I borrowed a significant amount for student loans. Most of them were turned off because of the pandemic, but they’re turning back on in January and that’s a harsh reality.”
According to Ryan, she had been fired by Oven & Tap because she ‘violated its policy’.
Co-owner of Oven and Tap Luke Wetzel said: “The employee that was terminated was not terminated for retaining the tip. Due to the privacy and the respect of our employees, we do not discuss employee affairs.”
