15+ Baristas and Waiters Revealed What Customers’ Situations They’ll Remember Until They Retire

Sometimes scenes worthy of a good family movie unfold right at the table by the window. Unexpected compliments, modest but heartfelt gifts, or just a sincere conversation after a hard day. These stories are not loud, but they are the ones that remain in the memory as the most valuable tips.

• My boyfriend hates cats. And, of course, a stray kitten showed up in our yard. I was feeding it, and when the cold weather hit, I brought it to work. I work as a barista in a café. I hoped one of my coworkers would take the little guy home. Turns out the biggest animal lover is the owner of the café — he has 3 cats at home. He let me keep the kitten at the café. Now our venue has its own little furry resident. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• I work as a barista, and I really love my job. More than making coffee, I enjoy interacting with the customers. One of our regulars, a young woman, came in, and it was clear she was having a rough day. I decided to cheer her up. I grabbed a cookie, brought it over, and said, “I couldn’t help but notice you seem a bit off today. Let me try to fix that.” She lit up with a smile and started thanking me! When she left, she thanked me even more and said I’d made her day a little better. Honestly, I ended up feeling even happier than she did. Just a cookie, and yet it made both of us happy. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• Once again, I was reminded that the world isn’t without kind people. I work as a server in a fairly upscale café and pastry shop. The other day, a grandmother came in with her grandson, and their eyes were wide with excitement. The boy spotted a pastry he wanted, but unfortunately, the grandmother didn’t have enough money to buy it. Then a man standing nearby stepped in and paid for it, saying, “I just miss my little girl so much.” © Not everyone will understand / VK

• I worked as a barista for quite a while. Regulars included an older divorced couple, both working as lawyers.
  He always came an hour before her and ordered a bunch of pastries, which he’d finish before she arrived. She’d come later and only get tea. Absolutely the same scenario every time, stretching over about 4 hours.
  They’d greet each other politely, exchange some jabs, and pull out their paperwork. The jabs would continue along with the papers piling up on the table. She’d say she was glad she divorced him, and that he hadn’t changed at all.
  He’d go to the restroom, and she’d pay the bill for both of them. Even though they bickered, I was sure there were still feelings left between them. © CirqueDuFreaks / Pikabu

• I had an interesting client. He looked at me strangely the whole time he was here. When I brought his bill for $23, he immediately put $50 and said, “Keep the change. Buy yourself a smiley face.” © anubia1111 / Pikabu
• I worked as a server at a café in a movie theater. I found a smartphone on a couch. No one came back for it over the week, and the battery died. I took it home and charged it. It asked for a PIN. I took out the SIM card and turned it on — and got in.
  The contacts list was empty... I guess all the numbers were on the SIM. I checked the photos — pictures of a young woman with a young guy and other random stuff. Well, at least now I knew what the owner looked like. I went through the messages and found a notification about funds being deposited and an email address. I looked it up and got his full name. Then I searched on social media using his name, city, and approximate age. I checked the photos, found him, and messaged:
  “Hi, I found your phone.”
  “Hi... wow, that’s unexpected. What do you want for it?”
  “Just come to my work and pick it up.”
  We agreed he’d come on Thursday. The guy came, thanked me, and brought a bag of cosmetics since his mom worked in a cosmetics store — he said it was for my girlfriend or my mom. He couldn’t believe someone would just find and return his phone. And me? I’d also be just as happy if someone returned something I’d lost. © ZaTaS / Pikabu

• In Canada, I worked at a tiny Thai restaurant run by a wonderful family. They treated their staff like family — at the end of every shift, everyone got a container full of food. But one day, the owners announced they were closing. At the farewell party, they gave the staff dishes and groceries.
  The next day, we were packing up the last things when the door opened. In walked one of our regulars — a frail elderly lady with a cane. She didn’t know the restaurant had closed. Without hesitation, the owner set a table for her. The kitchen was still running, so they fed her at the restaurant’s expense. That’s how they closed — working with love until the very last guest. © IrenLinn / Pikabu

• Near the end of the night, I get a table with a new born, 4-5 year old girl, and mom and dad. The girl is a little sassy, but the adults are super polite and kind. The guy had face and neck tattoos, was “rough” looking, but they were a pleasure to serve. As they were leaving, the guy pulls me aside and says he wasn’t comfortable leaving the tip on the table and hands me $50! He said, “My mom was a server and I know some nights are rough so I try to keep my eye out and take care of people.” I could have cried. I told him he made my night. © Comfortable-Salad715 / Reddit
• An older woman and her equally older husband came to our restaurant. She came in a little on edge. At first, I thought she was going to be a Karen. But! She communicated with me that her husband was heading to the doctors right after lunch and they are running late because it took her a little longer to get him ready to go and he needed to eat something before he had treatment. They had like 30 minutes max to get in and get out. I immediately offered some faster options that would take less time while accommodating their dietary restrictions. She teared up thanking me for something so simple. I immediately knew this lady was just trying her best to take care of her elderly husband as an old woman herself. All she needed was to be heard. She left me $20. I didn’t even care about the money. It was the note she wrote me sending so much love written in the most beautiful cursive I’ve ever seen. © Worried-Bumblebee981 / Reddit

• I work at a small restaurant that typically has 2 waiters on the floor during dinners. Tonight it was just me, and I lucked out with a ton of rude tables. In the hectic chaos, I forgot to give a table our free appetizers. To my absolute mortification, one of the customers was a regular, and when I served out their actual food, she asked whether we were still doing soup and salad. I apologized profusely and explained the situation and that yes, we were absolutely still doing free appetizers. I was literally overwhelmed and about to burst into tears, fully expecting to be yelled at. Thankfully this absolute angel was so nice about it, was like, “Honey you’re doing amazing, take your time, no worries at all” and when they left I saw she had tipped me over 30% of the bill. © bananasplit_130 / Reddit
• I used to have a family that came in for dinner pretty regularly. It was a couple in their 30s and their 3 sons aged between 6 and 10. Sometimes kids in restaurants can be an absolute nightmare, but these were the sweetest, most polite kids I’ve ever seen. It was pretty apparent to that the kids were adopted because they were a different race than both parents. They were just such a nice and pleasant family to wait on, and they became some of my favorite customers.
  I had been seeing them come in about once a week for several months and they were pretty consistent with what they would order. Always just dinner and beverages. But one day they ordered desserts. I was about to ask if it was a special occasion when the middle son said, “We’re getting desserts because we’re celebrating!” I asked him what the occasion was and he said, “It’s been 1 year since we became a family!” He said it in that sweet, pure child’s voice while proudly holding up 1 finger and giving me a big smile.
  I had to go in the kitchen and wipe away a few happy tears while I prepared their dessert plates. They were all just so happy to be together, and it was overwhelmingly heartwarming.
  I worked at that restaurant for about 5 more years. I got to watch those boys grow up some and saw the family add another member. I think about that story a lot and wonder how they’re all doing. The oldest boys would be young adults now. I hope they’re all doing great. © kmill0202 / Reddit

• I’m a barista. Men often come in our cafe in a bad mood. They order their coffee, almost throw the money at me, and don’t even say hi. If they order a cappuccino, I always draw a little heart in the foam and hand it to them with a smile. 9 times out of 10, they light up. They say thanks, wish me a good day, and leave a tip. In the fall, they’re just cold and need someone to draw hearts on their coffee. © Overheard / Ideer
• I worked as a server in a restaurant. The kitchen was slow, the bar messed up, and my table was extremely unhappy with everything that was happening. I did my best to handle the situation in every way I could. In the end, they still didn’t like the food, but the guests understood that none of this was my fault. Seeing how hard I was trying to save their evening and the restaurant’s reputation, they left me $50 and said, “Miss, the best thing in this restaurant is you.” It brought me to tears. © Overheard / Ideer

• A group of young adults came in and was a little bit rowdy. Not disruptive or rude, just a group of young adults acting goofy and having fun. I was taking their drink orders. There was one dude who seemed to be at the top of the pecking order in the group and seemed to make the rest of the group laugh a lot. So the whole table ordered waters and I asked everyone if they wanted lemons or not. I had various answers from everyone, either lemon or no lemon. And that’s when the alleged top dog of the group comes in. I ask him if he would like lemon. You could see by the look in his eye he thought he was about to continue to be the funny guy. He says, “Surprise me.” The rest of the group laughed at his different answer. Alright, pal, you want a surprise? You should have seen the look on everyone’s faces when I brought him out a side of lemon wedges on a plate. The table erupted in laughter. He acknowledged that he was truly surprised at what I had brought. It just goes to show, if you’re going to start bringing me into your jokes, you’d better be prepared to no longer be the funny guy. © Tacos7daysaweek / Reddit
• I worked as a server in Abu Dhabi, serving a lively group. Toward the end, one of them — a smiling older man — paid the bill for everyone and left a generous tip. They left, and about half an hour later, the manager burst in, wide-eyed, nervously asking, “So, did Schumacher enjoy his dinner? Everything went smoothly?” I said, “Uh... which Schumacher?” The manager replied, “Which one?! Michael.” That’s when it hit me. Flipping through all the famous people I could remember, I realized who he was — he had just paid the bill 5 minutes ago and stood right there! Tall, fit, and suspiciously smiling. I guess he thought I recognized him, and that was the reason why I was grinning at him. © BotyaB / Pikabu

• I work at a café. One regular is a rude, nasty guy — never says hi, yells, and leaves a huge mess behind. Nobody likes him. Then I saw him at the vet’s office — he was crying and hugging his dog. Now I smile at him all the time, give him compliments, and even a discount. And no, he’s still just as difficult. I just realized that he’s also a person with his own pain and fears, and it’s become a lot easier to deal with his grumpiness. © Overheard / Ideer
• 2 men ordered food and drinks and sat for a long time. Then they quietly left without paying. My coworker was in tears — the bill was a few hundred, and she counted every penny. I ran out into the cold without a jacket and saw them at the bus stop. I shouted, “You didn’t pay!” One of them frowned, “I thought you paid?” The other said, “I thought you did.” Flustered, they handed over $500 and said, “If it’s not enough, call us.” I came back a hero. The bill was actually $380. I called to return the extra, but the man waved me off, “Keep it for the trouble!” My coworker and I split it. People can make mistakes, but kindness is still out there. © lipton36 / Pikabu

And here are more stories about people who did something really kind. Check them out.