When an elderly woman finished eating at an NYC pizzeria, she decided not to tip the waiter because he had failed to impress her. Moments later, the waiter found a $424,000 check on her table.
Clearing tables, serving food, and cleaning bathrooms in restaurants isn’t as easy as it seems. Many people think working as a waiter is an easy job, but that’s not entirely true.
The highlight of a waiter’s day is when the customers tip them. Often, people reward waiters with an unexpected tip if they really enjoy their service. This didn’t happen to the waiter in today’s story, but he later became a hero in the eyes of the person who chose not to tip him.
Pizza for Lunch
One weekend in May 2019, Karen Vinacour walked inside New York City’s famous Patsy’s Pizzeria in East Harlem to have lunch with her daughter. As the staff cleared the table for her, she frowned while looking at the pictures on the wall.
When Armando Markaj, a medical student working as a part-time waiter, came to Vinacour’s table to take her order, she asked him why the wall had pictures of men only. She was agitated because the pizzeria’s walls didn’t feature any women.
Markaj was clueless after hearing her question because he wasn’t expecting customers to object to the restaurant’s decor. He answered Vinacour’s question to the best of his ability but failed to impress her.
Enjoying Their Food
After Markaj served pizza on Vinacour’s table, she enjoyed every bite of her mouthwatering meal with her daughter. It took them no time to finish the pizza.
Shocked, he immediately informed the pizzeria’s owner, Frank Brija, about his strange discovery.
Soon, Markaj brought the check and left it on Vinacour’s table with a smile on his face. He went to serve other customers while Vinacour paid for the food and left the restaurant.
Discovering an Important Envelope
Once Markaj finished serving pizzas to other customers, he returned to the table where Vinacour was seated and started clearing it. What caught his attention was a folded envelope sitting on the table.
Instead of immediately discarding it, he decided to open it. His eyes widened when he saw a bank check inside it. He recalled:
“I just pulled up the flap, and I saw ‘Citibank’ and thought it was important, so I ran out to the street to look for her, but she was gone.”
When it dawned on Markaj that the customer had left, he pulled the check out of the envelope. To his surprise, Vinacour had left $424,000 on the restaurant’s table! Shocked, he immediately informed the pizzeria’s owner, Frank Brija, about his strange discovery. Brija said:
“We thought for sure it was a billionaire or something who came in here because who walks around with a check like that?”