Yesterday at work I had a party of about fifteen German people come into my bar; they all ordered bottles of Shiner Bock and none of them offered any money immediately, so I assumed they wanted to be on the same tab. (Their English was very poor so I just went with it.)
$85-dollar-tab later, they all, individually, began coming up to the bar and telling me how many beers they’d had. Which meant I had to split that check up into fifteen different checks, hoping that there wouldn’t be “leftovers” that no one would claim, which of course there were b/c people rarely remember how many beers they’ve had…and they all stiffed me. One man, when I told him his two beers had cost $7.50, put $6.00 on the bar and walked out. I had to collar one of his friends and try to explain–me knowing no German and him knowing very little English–that his friend hadn’t paid enough. Then when his friend came back inside the bar, he still didn’t want to pay; he kept saying “TWO BEERS!” as if I were overcharging him.
This all took about half an hour to sort out; I had to neglect the rest of my bar, deal with getting screwed on an $85 dollar tab, sort out each of their checks individually, and somehow try to explain our beer pricing to a guy who doesn’t speak my language, nor I his…
So I was naturally very flustered and more than slightly upset by the time it was all over, and while I tried to put my “game face” back on, sometimes it takes a little while to screw it firmly into place again. 
(I don’t have anything against Germans at all–I’m sure they don’t understand our tipping culture or the way bar tabs work here–but it was a nightmare either way and it totally ruined my mood.)
And two guys sitting at the corner of the bar, who’d nursed a handful of beers for a couple of hours, saw the whole thing…and when I gave them their $22 tab, one of them said, “Hey, I’m sorry about that table.”
I told him not to worry about it–sometimes you win and sometimes you lose in my field–but he said, “No, no, I do. You handled yourself really well…I’d have totally lost my cool.”
I thanked him, and he said, “Here, this is for them and for me.”
And handed me a forty-dollar tip. On a $22 tab.
And while the money really cheered me up–of course it did!–it was more than that. It was the fact that he was thoughtful enough to give me so much when he didn’t have to. I’d have thought no less of him if he’d given me a four dollar tip. I didn’t expect anyone to “make up the difference” on that other tab; nor did I expect anyone to care that it had totally ruined my mood. And his extra-large tip, and his kind words, really made my day. I work in a funny business–as anyone who’s worked with the public will testify–and it’s easy to become jaded and cynical.
And I appreciated his generosity and his attitude so much that I thought I’d see if any of you other Dopers had any stories to share about the “kindness of strangers.” And how one little moment/gesture can totally change your outlook and make your whole day.
Anybody? 
[sub]Doesn’t have to be money, of course. Yesterday’s incident is just what made me think of starting this thread.[/sub]
