The One With the Big Tip

Hello and good morning! I’ve returned from Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where I spent some time meeting some people I work with at my other job. I also spent a lot of time eating tacos and sitting on the beach (I swear I applied sunscreen every 30 minutes, and yet…).

Why don’t we start this morning with a semi-WWYD, but have you readers suggest what you would have done.

Some coworkers and I were sitting on a beach when a waiter came up to ask us if we wanted any food or drinks, and we said “yes.” We each ordered a few tacos, and I ordered a water and then a beer.

When the bill came, one of my coworkers paid for the bill on his card and asked how he was supposed to tip (sometimes you’d put the tip down after getting your card back like in the U.S., and sometimes you put the tip before, and sometimes they asked you to tip in cash).

“Tips on the card is split evenly among everyone here,” our waiter said. “But if you liked my service and tip in cash, I get to keep it.”

“Mike, how many pesos do you have on you?” my coworker asked.

“250.”

“Oh, that’s not enough.”

“I can put in $6 USD,” our other coworker offered.

“Great, we’ll do that and Mike’s pesos.”

When our waiter returned, we gave him the tip and he said, “Thank you! You’ve made my day! My name is Cesar and I’ll be happy to serve you while you’re here. Will you be back tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” we said. “We’re here for work.”

“Okay, I will find you!” Cesar said.

“That was funny,” my coworker said.

“Well, we did give him a really big tip,” I said.

“We gave him, like $9,” my coworker said, and then I laughed.

“How much money did you think I gave you?”

“Like, $2.50?”

“No, 250 pesos isn’t $2.50, it’s $20!” I said and then laughed again. We had paid the bill and then some.

The next time we were on the beach, we were in a different section, but Cesar still found us and was excited to do so. He was very friendly and provided really great service.

When it came time to tip him again, I asked, “Are we going to tip him like we did before?” We had decided not to, but when we handed him the money, it ended up being a giant tip. None of us wanted to disappoint Cesar.

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