Struggling Industry
The pandemic was a difficult time for the service industry. Restaurants were unable to do business as usual and clients were scarce.
This affected the waiters and waitresses tips. This was the case for Ryan, who was seemingly drowning in debt.
Hard Worker
Ryan studied at the University of Arkansas, and took out a student loan in order to pay for her studies. She had an overwhelming amount in student loans, but she had to do it if she wanted to attend university.
Ryan refused to let her situation get the best of her. She worked hard at her job and always gave her best. That is, until Grant Wise stumbled across her path.
Real-Estate Owner
Grant Wise was the director of a well-known real estate company who loved to support servers. He even started an initiative called the '$100 Dinner Club'. This club was aimed at getting each member of the group to tip $100 to their server.
Grant Wise felt a strong connection towards servers and always wanted to help them out. However, he has never been a server himself, so why does he care so much?
Just A Good Man
Grant was just an inherently good person, and always tried to support charities and people in any way he can. “We knew servers really hit hard through Covid and it was something that he had come up with to help give back.”, Grant told an interviewer when he was asked to speak about the project.
However, it would turn out that his kindness often comes with a price...
Oven And Tap
Grant Wise and his friends decided to visit an establishment named Oven and Tap, which was located in Bentonville, Arkansas. He wanted to celebrate his successful real estate conference with his closest friends.
A lot of people joined him to the dinner, and they raised an astounding $4,400 for the server's tip. He called aside his waitress and what he said changed the course of her life.
Caught On Camera
He was ignorant to the consequences of his kindness, and he was unaware that his act of kindness would be broadcasted to the entire world.
One of his friends decided to film the occasion, and the whole world witnessed Wise's kindness.
A Big Surprise
'I'm so sorry to interrupt everyone's dinner, this will only take 60 seconds, we have a table full of absolutely amazing people from all over the country who have traveled here, and tonight we're hosting a $100 Dinner Club’, Wise told the establishment.
‘Everyone at this table has contributed or tipped $100 for you and for the other waitress. And then we put it out to our social media channels, and then we actually had a bit more money sent in, so we are tipping a total of $4,400 for you to split with the other girl who took care of us.' The restaurant fell silent.
Dream Come True
Their server was Ryan Brandt. She could not believe what she was hearing. Tears were filling her eyes and she could not help but give Wise a big hug. She thanked each member of the club individually.
She got over $2000 dollars which will enable her to pay of a huge chunk of her student loans. She could not have been happier.
Momentary Happiness
Ryan immediately ran to her coworker to inform her of the life-changing news and to give her her share of the money.
She couldn't stop thinking about how much the money would change her life and make it a bit easier. However, she was blissfully unaware of the nasty surprise waiting for her later that evening.
Unfair Requests
The managers were informed of the $4,400 tip, and urged Ryan to split the tip with all of the workers in the restaurant.
That lessened the amount Ryan would have received to a mere 20%, but they weren't done doing damage yet...
Adding Insult To Injury
Ryan had told Wise, when he asked her about it, that it wasn’t part of the restaurant’s policy to split the server’s tips between the members of the staff. And, according to the managers, this was a violation of the restaurant’s rules!
This was found as enough reason to fire Ryan, leaving her unemployed and adding to her financial troubles.
A Revelation
Later, Wise made some declarations that brought some light to the issue: before going to Arkansas’ Oven and Tap with the $100 Dinner Club, Wise himself had called the restaurant.
He had asked whether the servers were required to split their bills with the rest of the staff. The answer he was given makes this situation clearer.
The Manager’s Answer
He was told that the restaurant didn’t have any such a policy; every server was allowed to take home the entirety of their tips. So the situation was crystal clear: Ryan had been the victim of an unfair decision and, probably, of the greed and envy of the restaurant’s manager.
Now, unemployed and with little money in her pockets, it seemed like Wises’s act of generosity had more negative than positive consequences.
What Did Wise Do Then
So this is what Wise decided to do: he started a fundraising campaign to help Ryan out. In only a few days, he raised $8,732. However, one day Ryan called him to let him know that she no longer needed the money and to ask him to stop the campaign. Something had happened.
Ryan had found a new job at a different restaurant, and no longer needed the money. Still, she was extremely grateful towards Wise and the rest of the $100 Dinner Club. Then, Wise started considering what could be done with the money she had raised for Ryan..
Wise’s Decision
He decided to invite Ryan to become a ‘Guest of Honor’ for the next meeting of the $100 Dinner Club. He also came to the conclusion that the money he had raised for Ryan would better be spent on helping other servers out.
From that moment, the tips granted by the $100 Dinner Club were to be shared among all the staff of the restaurant to which the Club would go. ‘We will be working to ensure through this that all staff in the restaurant are tipped so everyone feels blessed by our dinner.’, he declared on the campaign’s page.