One of my favorite parts of the Instagram'd photos of servers and bartenders holding up their gargantuan tips, is that the (semi-)mystery man also comments specifically about what aspect of his service experience he enjoyed. T for J often praises drink recommendations, speedy service, and he ALWAYS knows his server's name.
I'll admit, I have kinda a knee-jerk reaction when I see "for Jesus" attached to stuff. And not in a good way. 99% of the time my next thought it, "There is no way that Jesus approved of this message." I mean, I'd wager that Jesus gets name dropped more than anyone else in history (and that includes Genghis and all his hordes of offspring). One minute it's, "Jesus taught me to love my fellow man." And the next it's, "Jesus told me to hate fags." Unless the untold story of Jesus is one about schizophrenia, there is no way that everyone is honestly representing the views of the most favored son in human history. The Jesus H. Christ brand has become overwhelmingly watered down.
And then along comes Tips for Jesus, and it makes me pause. Because there are a lot of important messages being conveyed through these outrageous tips. It is very rare that generosity ever has a solid marketing team behind it, but this is one of those cases. This is great press for what Fox News would call socialism and what human beings with a heart would call the spirit of giving. There are very few people bussing tables and slinging drinks simply for the love of the game. If you look into the surprised and joyful faces of the staff members holding what represents, for most, a sizable amount of assistance towards affording the cost of life, you realize that if you do believe in god -- that this is probably some of her/his/non-gendered work.
When you leave a monster tip for your server, it will make their day. Every. Single. Time. No large tip has ever gone unnoticed or unappreciated, I can guarantee it. If you want the "selfish" pleasure of experiencing a stranger's joy, big tips are the way to go. You'll get your show every time.
Hopefully this tipping-spree helps empower others to give simply because they can. Perhaps it will further the internalization of the idea that while some of us were born haves, so many others were born have-nots. Randomly. It seems that the bend toward "paying it forward" (worst marketing campaign for kindness ever btw) may have already begun . . .
I say we keep it going. This December, if you can afford it, when you get particularly good service . . . overtip. Just do it. I assure you it will set in motion a chain of events that include an avalanche of smiles. And you'll probably even get to see a few of them. Not all of them. I mean, unless you follow them home and watch them excitedly retell the story of their own personal holiday mini-miracle to their significant other. And then watch as that infusion of cash actually does trickle down into the joy of that person's loved ones.
But don't follow them home. It'd be really creepy and it's quite possibly the only way to sour this otherwise entirely awesomeface-sandwich of a gesture.
But, for the love of god, don't tip for Jesus. Do it for yourself.
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