The year is 2014 and we all now know Harold Camping was wrong; the world did not end in 2011. Regardless of that fact, there are many people out there who still believe the rapture is imminent and that Jesus is coming any minute now. So, what better way to atone for one’s sins immediately by leaving outrageously large tips to waiters and waitresses all over the country?
While the intent of “Tips for Jesus” is not to buy indulgences and have all of one’s sins washed away, it is making a positive impact across North America. Multiple reports have been filed of restaurant staff receiving irrationally large tips from an extremely good-mannered and well-dressed man.
Unfortunately for one out-of-touch waiter, the most recent “Tip for Jesus” was thrown in the trash. Ron Kinney, a 67-year-old waiter at a restaurant in West Hollywood, tossed the receipt when he could not recognize the signature on the receipt, thinking the incident was a hoax or mistake: “I was pretty naive, I guess. I thought it was someone who had a drink too many and didn’t realize what they were doing. … We see this all the time. People make mistakes.”
By the time Kinney and his co-workers realized that the tip was most likely the work of “Tips for Jesus,” it was too late; the receipt was not retrievable: “The money would sure have come in handy for me to help for retirement. We have no such plan at work,” stated Kinney. How much money did Kinney lose out on? Either $4,000 or $7,000 (Handwriting being what it is these days.)
While “Tips for Jesus” started anonymously and has attempted to stay that way, a waiter at a New York City restaurant recognized the man who left such a tip one night and ousted him as Jack Selby, the former vice president of PayPal.
Selby accrued his grand fortune when eBay bought PayPal for a cool $1.5 billion in 2002. Since that time, Selby has not pulled a Smaug and sat on his fortune. Rather, he invested his earnings into multiple hedge fund businesses, making millions more.
With an increase to the federal minimum wage being brought to the table by many members of Congress, perhaps servers will no longer need these monetary boosts. Until any law regarding this matter passes, however, there is only one thing to do: become a waiter / waitress and hope to be stricken by divine intervention.
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