We all get sick of cooking at home sometimes, which is why there are a million restaurants out there that are more than willing to cook a meal for us. As convenient as going out to dinner is for the patrons, it can be pretty stressful for those that are working in the restaurant, especially the waitstaff. Thanks to busy nights and rude customers, being a server comes with a lot of frustration, and sometimes, it can be overwhelming. One waitress had such an uncanny ability to stay positive and patient no matter what was happening that she was the only person who could wait on one of the restaurant’s grumpy regulars. But she had no idea that the customer was watching her very closely.Melina Salazar, a waitress at the Texan restaurant Luby’s, was well-known to her customers for her friendly and fast service. Melina was so good at what she does that she was the only server in the restaurant that could handle their grumpiest customers.
This 89-year-old World War II veteran is Walter “Buck” Swords, and he was well-known at Luby’s restaurant for being cranky, demanding, impatient, and short-tempered with the waitstaff. Well, at least that’s what everyone thought of him.
Even though he was always rude to the staff, Melina was always prepared to take his order. Every single day for seven years, Melina served the old man his food just the way he liked it: too hot to eat.
Melina always worked hard to get the man’s orders done exactly how he liked it. She always made sure to have a smile on her face as she said: “how you doin’ today?” Everyone was clueless as to how she managed to be in such a good mood every day, especially when she had to serve the old grumpy man. But Melina knew what she was doing.
One day, Buck didn’t show up for his normal meal at the restaurant. And he didn’t show up the next day either. He didn’t show up the day after that, either. Melina began to think that maybe something happened to Buck, but there was no way for her to find out if he was okay or not.
While she was flipping through the local newspaper a few days later, she saw something that broke her heart. Right before her shift, Melina found Buck’s obituary in the newspaper. Her favorite grumpy customer would never be back to give her a hard time.
Even though he was a crabby old man, Melina was a bit sad about Buck passing away. But obviously there wasn’t anything that she could do, so she just continued living her life like she normally would. Little did she know that her life wasn’t going to be normal for long.
Handling Buck’s picky personality was just one of the things that Melina had to do to be a good waitress. Buck was a war veteran, after all, so the least Melina could do was be nice to him. But she didn’t realize that Buck had noticed her kindness the entire time she waited on him.
Buck really did appreciate how kind Melina was to him over the years. Actually, he had grown so fond of the hard-working waitress that he mentioned her name in his last will and testament.
When the lawyers reached out to Melina, she was completely taken by surprise. They explained to Melina that Buck had left her his car and $50,000! Melina was overwhelmed by how generous the grumpy old man was to her!
Melina was obviously happy that Buck had left her such nice gifts, but she was also grateful that her kind nature had been noticed and appreciated. Even though she didn’t have to, she chose to be kind to Buck, and it came back to reward her.
Melina’s story may seem like a one-of-a-kind experience, but you’ll be surprised to find out that things like that happen all of the time. A story just like Melina’s went viral in 2015 when a famous art dealer left two restaurant workers an incredible amount of money.
People from all over travel to New York City is to experience its abundance of fashion, art, music, and great food. This famous art dealer was just one of the hundreds of Upper East Siders that have been drinking martinis and eating steak at Donohue’s for many years.
Some of the other regulars of this infamous restaurant are Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and his wife, Jimmy Fallon, Matt Lauer, David Rockefeller, and Gay Talese. You see, everyone who’s anyone eats and drinks at Donohue’s!
Maureen Donohue-Peters, the co-owner and head-waitress of Donohue’s, loved seeing this particular customer come into the restaurant. Maureen and her niece, who is also a waitress at Donohue’s, had known the man for pretty much their entire lives and they considered him to be their friend.
Maureen is a very popular waitress at Donohue’s and everyone who visits the restaurant enjoys spending time with her. “Maureen treats everybody the same — like family. You can sit at the bar and talk to Matt Lauer and call him Matt. Everybody’s on a first-name basis at Donohue’s,” explained real estate mogul Kenneth D. Laub to the New York Post.
Robert “King of Ming” Ellsworth was a world-renowned art collector. People considered him to be sympathetic and very humble. Even though he was worth about $200 million, he always encouraged people to call him Bob and he never acted like he was better than anyone else.
Bob was called the King of Ming because his specialty was art and furniture pieces from the Ming Dynasty. One of his most famous pieces is the Astor Chinese Garden Court, which is located in the New York Metropolitan Musem of Art. Bob traveled all over to collect his prized pieces, but nothing ever felt as nice as it did when he went to Donohue’s.
Bob’s apartment was on Fifth Avenue and it had more than 20 rooms filled to the brim with Asian art and artifacts. Even though he essentially lived in an Asian palace, he still enjoyed eating his meals at Donohue’s, where he could talk to his good friend, Maureen.
Every time he had lunch at Donohue’s, Bob would order the same exact thing: an open-faced grilled cheese with bacon. But when he had dinner there, he would always order the broiled prime chopped sirloin steak smothered with onions. And he would ALWAYS share half of his meal with his beloved canine.
Occasionally, Bob would bring his private driver or other guests to treat them to a nice meal! And if the owners of the restaurant had a minute to spare, Bob would always ask them to join him and his adorable Golden Retriever so that he could spend some time getting to know the owners of his favorite restaurant.
In 2015, Bob passed away, but not without saying one last farewell to Maureen and her niece. They were both shocked to find out that Bob had left each of them $50,000 in his will, but of course, Maureen said she would give it all back to have Bob back in the restaurant, sitting at his favorite table.
Maureen says that she wants people to remember that Bob was an incredibly generous person, and anyone who had ever met him would say the same thing! Now that’s what most people would call rich!
Alaina Custer, a waitress at Sup Dogs Restaurant in Greenville, North Carolina and a student at East Carolina University, was surprised to see a bunch of bills stacked on a table. After all, the customer had only ordered two glasses of water.
The tip was left on the table with a note that read: “Thanks for the delicious water.” Alaina was extremely confused when she found the cash. “I literally didn’t think it was real. I picked it up and it was a giant stack of hundreds, I was shaking and just kept asking, ‘What is this?’ I thought someone was playing a joke on me,” she said. Apparently, the person who had left the money was a popular YouTube personality that goes by the name Mr. Beast. “They just told me about their YouTube channel and how they were going around blessing servers’ days,” explained Alaina.
21-year-old Cayla Chandara had been working double shifts at two different restaurants in Waikiki, Hawaii just to barely cover the cost of her bills. The high cost of living and her student loans kept her working long hours.
Cayla wasn’t able to continue her education and pay all of her bills, so she quit school and worked as a server at the Cheesecake Factory and Noi Thai Cuisine. She hoped to go back to school one day.
One night, Cayla was busy working at Noi Thai Cuisine when a couple with a little girl sat in her section. She waited on them and they asked her why she moved to Hawaii. Cayla told them about her plans to return to school and her goals for her future. She thought that the customers were just being friendly. But after they left, she cleared their table and saw the tip they left her. It was $400, which was double their bill!
Cayla told CBS News, “I was then at a loss for words and all I wanted to do was hug them.” She remembered where the couple said they were staying and headed over after her shift. Cayla left a thank-you note for the couple at the hotel front desk. She never expected to see them again.
The very next night, the woman and the little girl returned to Noi Thai Cuisine. They told Cayla that they wanted to gift her $10,000 to pay off her student loans and to help her continue her education. “I initially told them I couldn’t take that offer, but they insisted that it would be just as great for them to do it for me,” Cayla said.
With the generous help from strangers, Cayla would be able to enroll in school and start in the fall. She asked the kind tourists how she could ever repay them. Cayla explained, “They told me the best way to thank them is to be my best possible self, dream big and strive for my goals. They have truly changed my life, not only financially, but in the way I look at things. They are the most beautiful and kind-hearted people I’ve come across and I really look up to them and I can’t wait until they watch me graduate.” Cayla wanted to remind everyone that there are some really awesome people in the world. She advised, “Always be genuine. You will get it right back. Good things happen.”
