Megan King was going about her normal duties as a waitress. She of course tends to customers daily so it is easy for her to notice when a customer looks unsatisfied. This particular customer came when Megan was midway through her 17-hour shift. She noticed she looked sad. It was a Sunday which has more traffic than other days. Megan went over to chat a little when the traffic slowed down. They talked lightly, nothing heavy. From their short chat, Megan knew the customer was almost seventy years and the restaurant was one of her favorite places to eat out. She also felt the woman was kind and sweet by the way she talked. After finishing her meal, the woman paid for it and wrote something for Megan before she left. Megan noticed she had left a note on the table after the woman went away. In the note, she thanked Megan for her kind service. She also wrote something which upon reading, Megan could not help but break into tears. The note continued, ‘this was my first time eating out alone since my husband passed, I was hoping I could get through it.’

Megan now understood why the woman was sad. She was shocked and teary. She went to the restroom just to calm down and recollect because she was still on shift. Megan decided to post about her experience with the customer on twitter including a picture of the note and her emotional self. As is with the internet these days, some people chose to focus on the amount of money the customer left Megan as a tip. Megan was of course quick to protect the woman as it should be. She told those bashing the almost seventy-year-old woman in a tweet, “old people who live on fixed income deserve to get out for a nice meal,’ and added, ‘big tippers make up for it anyway. I’m serving them. you aren’t. I’m standing by that, thanks.” She also pointed out the bashers did not base their criticisms on facts because what they did not know was the woman’s bill amounted $11 and a $3 tip was generous as such.

Megan took their criticism as an opportunity to inform them of the realities of the lives of old people. She acknowledges that the larger percentage of customers who walk into their restaurant daily are older people. Their only mission is to give them the best service and ensure they enjoy their meal. The little or much they can tip they appreciate because these are people living on a fixed pay. The message she was trying to pass across on Twitter is, people should always think about the circumstances of the next person and not quickly pass judgment. When Megan King thinks back to the day the customer left her a note, she feels she could have been there for her more. She wishes she had interpreted the glances the woman kept giving her differently. She believes the older woman just needed someone to talk to. At the time, Megan thought the woman needed something or she was not satisfied with her meal. She now knows the woman needed something, just not food related or service related. She needed someone to listen.