Secret Santa Leaves Magical Tip for Arizona Diner Staff

Secret Santa Leaves Magical Tip for Arizona Diner Staff
5 & Diner in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Screenshot via Google Street View)
Petr Svab
12/13/2017
Updated:
10/5/2018

What’s the proper tip on a $17.23 breakfast? Is $2 too little? ‘Tis the season of giving, so how about $20? Too much?

Not for the man who sat quietly at a booth at 5 & Diner in Scottsdale, Arizona. Not even by a long shot.

He drank coffee and orange juice on Saturday, Dec. 9, morning. He had eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast, Fox 10 Phoenix reported.

Before leaving, he wrote in $2,000 tip.

“Merry Christmas!” he wrote on the bill.

He had, however, one request: “Please split with the whole staff.”

The staff was overjoyed.

“When you look at it you think, oh 200… but no it was 2,000. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one. You hear about it on the news but never think it’ll happen to you,” waitress Delia Meek told KNXV.
The location of 5 & Diner in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Screenshot via Google Maps)
The location of 5 & Diner in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Screenshot via Google Maps)
“We took it right to the managers and said ‘Look what we got.’ So now we have to figure out how we’re going to do this, how we’re going to split it,” she told WLWT5.

Of the nine staffers each took $200, except for the secret Santa’s waitress, who took $400.

“It takes a lot of weight off their shoulders; $200 makes a big difference on bus boy pay or cooks pay or hostess. So $200, it makes your week,” Meek said.

She gave her part to her daughter, who could use every dollar to pay tuition at a nursing school.

The generous stranger inspired other customers to make a difference too. Meek said another customer put down $200 tip. “It almost made me cry,” she said.

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Petr Svab is a reporter covering New York. Previously, he covered national topics including politics, economy, education, and law enforcement.
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