One of the things that waiters or food servers have to remember is to serve their customers with a smile.
It may be an easy task for some, serving food and smiling at customers – sure, that may seem easy, but is it really?
All those who have worked in this industry know how hard the job is. All customers expect to be treated with a happy, positive attitude, but what they don’t know is that these food servers have been working so hard for hours already.
Yes, it’s their job to be polite, kind, and positive; but as customers, we have to treat them with respect as well.
How familiar are you with the famous New York City pizzeria Patsy’s?
This establishment has been around for over 80 years! That’s how good their pizza is!
One of the waiters working there is Armando Markaj. He is already accustomed to the busy working hours for this famous pizza parlor, and from time to time, he encounters customers that aren’t so nice.
One day, Markaj was serving an old woman named Karen (no joke), along with her daughter.
Karen suddenly noticed the place didn’t have “enough” photos of women in their display.
The restaurant had a wall dedicated to their celebrity customers who visited the famous restaurant. In a way, Karen felt annoyed by the fact that most of the celebrities posted were men!
She decided to ask Markaj why this is so.
Confused by the question, Markaj just decided to lighten up the mood and he answered the elderly lady with a smile,
“Well, summer is coming; probably women don’t like to eat pizza as much. You know, sense of humor.”
He also added that there were actually photos of female celebrities on their wall, then he enumerated that some of them were Christine Quinn, Barbara Walters, and even the First Lady!
Unfortunately, Karen didn’t find Markaj’s answer to be amusing or funny!
For her, this was offensive and she was clearly upset! She answered Markaj with,
“Maybe women don’t tip either.”
Though sad about what had happened, Markaj decided to shrug it off and he went back to work. After Karen and her daughter left, he decided to clean their table and he noticed an envelope.
He was shocked when he opened the envelope and found a check for $424,000 inside!
This was the first time that this had happened, so he immediately went to the restaurant’s owner, Frank, and gave him the check. They decided to wait for Karen to come back.
On the other hand, Karen was frustrated after she found out that her check – her whole life savings, was missing! She tried calling Patsy’s but apparently, she called the wrong branch.
She then decided to call the bank and she was devastated when she found out that it would take them three months to re-issue her a check!
What she didn’t expect was that Frank and his son already decided to track her down, and with the help of social media, they were able to contact Karen.
Karen quickly went to the restaurant to pick up her check, there, she saw Markaj again. She was so sorry for what she had done to the young man, even saying that he could have easily thrown the check into the trash because she was rude.
However, the young man didn’t do it, instead, he did the right thing and the check was returned.
Karen felt so grateful!
That day, she offered Markaj a tip for being a Good Samaritan but, surprisingly, he refused it. For him, he just did the right thing.
“Small details like this define us as humans – it’s just a small gesture,” he told ABC7NY News.
We totally agree with him! Not all people will do the right thing. Some might think that throwing away the check would be better; after all, Karen wasn’t very nice to Markaj.
If you were in his place, what would you do?
Karen was aware of her actions towards the food server; in fact, she was full of regret for what had happened. Karen said to ABC7NY News,
“I’m so grateful that the insult that we gave him did not prevent him from doing the right thing.”
Karen and Armando’s first meeting wasn’t really friendly, but what had happened turned out to be a way for Karen to realize her mistake, and for Armando to gain a new friend.
It’s so nice that he was able to do the right thing even though he felt bad about their encounter at the restaurant. This only proves that he has a kind heart.
What we love about this story is that sometimes, it’s better to be the bigger person. We should always choose the battles that we fight. Revenge also isn’t something that will make us feel better.
Instead, offer a good deed, and you will end up having a friend instead.
We are also very happy that Karen was able to realize her mistake and she was able to say sorry to the waiter. Admitting that you’re wrong doesn’t make you weak, it makes you admirable.
Now, the two of them are friends!
Watch their interview below and tell us what you think.
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