December 26-2014
Megan Asadi just recently got US citizenship. And, last week, while waitressing at a restaurant outside Washington, DC, she got a 1,000 percent tip.
It was a $1,200 tip on $128 tab she gave to an anonymous group that likes to give what it calls “tip bombs” after it finishes a meal.
Asadi was working her regular shift last Thursday at the Virginia Kitchen, a small restaurant in Herndon, Virginia, a town near Dulles International Airport to the west of Washington.
The tip came from an anonymous group of 10 diners that calls the massive gratuity a “Tip Bomb.” The group chooses not to identify itself in order to focus on the recipient of their large tips. Their goal is simply to spread holiday cheer to others.
Linc Kruger, the owner of Virginia Kitchen said he had no idea the group had decided to stop by his restaurant. He said the random act of kindness could not have happened to a better person.
Asadi is a single parent with two young daughters, who has worked as a waitress for five years. She came to the United States as a refugee from Iran, and just recently became a US citizen.
Asadi said she could not wait to tell her two teenaged daughters. “They’re gonna be so surprised and excited; they can’t wait until next week [Christmas],” Asadi said. “I’m going to surprise them—take them to the mall and tell them, ‘Buy everything you want.’”
She added that she had wanted to take last Thursday off. Now she’s glad she didn’t.
This isn’t the first time this group of diners has done something like this. Every holiday season, they put together a lunch and spread some cheer, collecting as much cash as possible to leave for their server. They even have a website, tipbombs.com, where they’ve posted videos of their annual Christmas surprises.
Last year, the so-called tip bombers left another unsuspecting server a little more than $1,400.
Since it was lunchtime, there were plenty of witnesses to this year’s random act of kindness. “I think it’s fabulous, and I think that quite often people forget about the people who serve them,” said Mary Barnett, who was dining in the restaurant when it happened.
