Customer Gives Server $1,000 Tip After Restaurant Was Shut Down For A Week

For anyone looking to do a good deed before the year is out, it's worth remembering that bell-ringers' big red buckets aren't the only place to perform a kindness (and those are controversial as it is). According to San Diego ABC News affiliate KGTV, Mainstream Bar & Grill in nearby Poway recently had to shut down for a week due to a boil water order—that is, a public health advisory during which tap water shouldn't be consumed due to possible contamination. Such health advisories are somewhat common, but they can wreak havoc on an hourly worker's wages, especially servers, who are also losing out on their tips during that time.

Once the restaurant reopened, server Sarah Klein was explaining to her regulars at Mainstream how the closure had impacted her family, and apparently, the right customer was listening. He handed her a "donation" envelope filled with $1,000 in cash. He said it was for whatever she needed.

"Poway is like a family," general manager Brian Harvey told KGTV. "And they come together in times of need, and it's definitely one of those times." When asked how she planned on spending the money (a bit of an invasive question, when you think about it; the giver didn't need to know, and we aren't entitled to know, either), Klein explained that it allowed her family more freedom to celebrate the holidays as they were hoping to.

"Now there is so much more we can do," she said. "So I'm just really proud to be in Poway."