America is going through hard times right now and a lot of people aren’t sure how they’ll make it through the next few months. The hardest hit will probably be those who work in the service industry.
As of March 16, restaurants and bars in seven states –– California, Connecticut, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington have been ordered to close.
In Califonia, restaurants are open but must limit their capacity.
In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine was deeply apologetic when he announced that restaurants and bars would be closed, but for take-out orders.
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am,” DeWine said to business owners and workers.
“This is a matter of life and death, and so we’re very mindful of the economic hurt… This is brutally tough, and my heart goes out to them, but we have to do what we have to do to save their lives,” DeWine said.
Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted said there will be
unemployment benefits for those whose jobs are affected by the coronavirus as
well as those who self-quarantine.
But there was still a lot of uncertainty on Sunday, March 15 at Coaches Bar and Grill in Columbus, Ohio. On the eve of the last night providing regular service, waitstaff wondered what the future will hold for the bar and whether they could provide for their families.
Amongst all of the stress, one customer came in, ordered a beer and some food. The order came to $29.75, but he left a whopping $2,500 tip that he requested to be split among the waitstaff.
“Please split this tab equally between Tara, Nicky,
Jim, Liz and Arrun,” the check read.
The bar tweeted a photo of the check with a caption that reads: “When the going gets tough, the tough stay loyal. This loyal, amazing patron of Coaches on Bethel left the staff a $2,500 tip to help lighten the losses during this required closing of Restaurants & Bars in Ohio.”
The customer wished to remain anonymous but was a regular at
the bar who showed up every Wednesday night for trivia.
“There were tears of joy among everyone here,” the bar’s owner, Patrick “Benny” Leonard, told CNN. “On a day when I’ve never seen a shutdown like that, I’ve never seen a tip like that either.”
Leonard believes that the type of goodwill exemplified by the anonymous customer that will help the country get through the pandemic.
“To have a person sitting here and do that, it’s amazing,” Leonard said. “This is where we should all be. The more we have of this, the better the country will roll through these unprecedented times.”
The five people mentioned on the check paid their good fortune forward by dividing the $2,500 between all 12 of the bar’s employees.
Coaches hopes to stay afloat during the crisis by providing food for take-out but they know times will be rough.
Whether we can help by giving people money or just by spreading humanity, now’s the time for all Americans to step up and help one another in any way they can.
Photo credit: Coach’s Bar and Grill / Twitter, Governor Mike DeWine / Twitter, Google Maps.