David Fabila knows what it means to be too busy. He’s a father of three with another baby on the way, dedicated husband and incredible employee. So when he showed up to work at the House of Oliver wine bar in Roseville, California, and noticed it was jam packed to the brim with customers, he shook off his exhaustion and got right to it.
There was absolutely no time to be tired when he needed to make money to support his growing family.
But David never could’ve guessed that his impressive work ethic would lead to the surprise of a lifetime from an extremely special customer…
David told CBS Sacramento that he was exhausted from his first job by the time he got to House of Oliver and had little energy for the sure to be busy night ahead.
“I was telling my coworkers that tonight is not my night I’m not having a good night, I just came from my other job, I’m exhausted.”
Despite his situation, David sucked it up and got right to work. He checked on each of the tables to which he was assigned, serving one group of customers before quickly moving onto the next. He didn’t have much time to seriously impress his patrons due to the massive number of people piling through the door – but David did his best.
His family’s well-being hinged on how well he could attend to the tables in his section!
The night was flying by when a small group of young people sat down on the patio and began ordering items off the menu in quick succession. By the end of their night, the group spent upwards of $190. David politely handed over their bill, thanked them for their business and said goodbye.
But David noticed something strange when he returned to collect the check.
“I pulled the check out to close it and when I pulled it out that’s when I saw everything, their bill was very expensive it was like $190-something, that’s exactly the tip they left me… Unless you work in the service industry, you don’t really understand how much tips mean to a server, to a bartender.”
They had tipped him an additional $190 on top of their $190 bill. The young man to blame for the big tip, Steffen Berr, told CBS that he was excited to make a difference.
“I’ve been in his shoes before too, I used I work as a waiter in a diner in Texas, so I decided to show him what he did is appreciated… I’m in a position where I have the resources and luck to do this so why not just go for it, I’m really glad I did it he really needed that money more than I did.”
Apparently, the “Tip the Bill Challenge,” an Internet phenomenon where diners tip 100 percent of their bill, inspired Steffen to pay it forward. Why not make someone’s day if you have the means to do so?