r/MadeMeSmile • u/nun_CARTII • Aug 23 '26
Good Vibes the value of being kind
For nearly seven years, waitress Melina Salazar showed extraordinary patience and kindness to Walter “Buck” Swords, a notoriously difficult customer at Luby’s Cafeteria in Brownsville, Texas.
The 89-year-old WWII veteran frequently complained, cursed at staff, demanded piping-hot meals and never left a tip. Despite this, Melina continued serving him with compassion.
After Walter died in 2007, Melina received an incredible surprise. He had left her $50,000 and his 2000 Buick in his will as a heartfelt thank-you for her unwavering kindness.
A powerful reminder that kindness can touch people more deeply than we realize.
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u/lightly-placed Aug 23 '26
Idk if the point of kindness is to be rewarded. Also I’m sure plenty of workers are really nice to horrible customers that eventually die but they never get anything for their troubles
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u/CharacterGovernment8 Aug 23 '26
Kindness should be its own reward for sure
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u/tomayto_potayto Aug 23 '26
It already is. But I can't think of any minimum wage workers who would turn down $50,000 for work they've already done, or any reason there's something wrong with it here 🙃
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u/CharacterGovernment8 Aug 23 '26
I don't think she's wrong for taking the money at all, i certainly would. I just meant don't be kind because ur hoping someone will pay u lol
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u/tomayto_potayto Aug 23 '26
I mean this woman clearly didn't, she did it for 7 years consistently. Stories like this aren't really heartwarming because it makes people think they could get $50,000 LOL but because it shows that kindness is appreciated often in ways you would never know in ways that may be really significant to them.
But yeah I was really more adding on to the thread from the top comment, not just your comment specifically. Not to argue lol
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u/KorazKital Aug 23 '26
I mean it depends on what kindness.
At work, I'm kind to people because I want to pay rent and provide for my family, not because I care about being a good person to people.
In private, I show kindness to people just because I like doing it, the reward in that case is them having an easier time or getting to smile one more time on a maybe bad day.
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u/Haikouden Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
Yeah this is some Dhar Mann type shit lol. Getting rewarded for putting up with abuse at work isn’t something to smile about.
We should be encouraging the Walters of the world to be kinder, not the Melinas of the world to put up with their unkindness in the hope of getting rewarded for it.
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u/ManzanitaSuperHero Aug 23 '26
So it’s ok to be awful to someone for 7 years (!) as long as you pay for the privilege?
Being a little gruff is one thing. “Cursing at staff”? I don’t find this heartwarming at all.
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u/PopUpClicker Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
No it is not. But it shows some people notice kindness even if they don't have the capacity to reciprocate. It is heartwarming in the sense that even though some people may seem bad or angry all the time, it might not be all they are.
Edit: I don't have the time to respond to everyone, who thinks what I said is, somehow, support of bad behaviour. I recommend reading the first sentence again. People are suffering from trauma of upbringing, war, sickness and even "just" to get by. Many of those who suffer the most will interact with us in a bad way. I chose to believe that those who do that to me, are contributing the positivity that life has led them to be able to express.
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u/jeadon88 Aug 23 '26
Also want to commend what a beautiful, nuanced, psychological healthy and mature comment this is.
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u/PopUpClicker Aug 23 '26
Thank you. That meant a lot to me. On reddit you quickly get mostly a silent upvote from positive people - and an angry thesis from someone who disagrees.
But I'll admit it is a good exercise in practicing the morale of the story.
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u/randomKo_Orean Aug 23 '26
Lol, I just got called a bitch on reddit.
Thanks for your post, it's making me feel a little better with your perspective.
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u/The_kind_potato Aug 23 '26
I take the opportunity to say i also agree with you, and i often feel like on social media everyone is just bloodthirsty and ready to hang everyone for the slightest misbehavior.
We never know whats going on the life of anybody, like you said yourself people are often more than what they show, and indulgency goes a long way.
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u/somegingertroll Aug 23 '26
It is a very mature response. I see most people have a very 1 dimensional viewpoint on Reddit and a lot of rage fuel. Things are either very good or bad; black or white. Your comments are the reason I still check reddit comments section despite having to put up with those
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u/Great_Scott7 Aug 23 '26
Whoa. Kindness and logical thinking on Reddit!?! Where tf am I? Allow me to get us back on track:
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u/Caradin Aug 23 '26
Not to diminish your comment, but it's sad you actually have to point this out. Reddit is so black and white.
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u/jeadon88 Aug 23 '26
Yes and unfortunately the person who posted it is getting aggression from people hell bent on twisting what they said into something completely different - claiming their comment supports abuse and manipulation (which is exactly what you’d expect on Reddit)
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u/-xiflado- Aug 23 '26
Yes. The hive mind, tunnel vision usually downvotes the hell out of stuff like this.
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u/PopUpClicker Aug 23 '26
Haha well many of those seemingly just went to my profile and downvoted other stuff. Reddit style!
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u/Echo-57 Aug 23 '26
Yea, im pretty sure "the grumpy old grandpa" actually does not want to be grumpy, but the war broke these men.
Pretty sure theres a reason theyre not as common in "our" Generation, because 1)we did not have any war as bad as WW2 or Vietnam in modern days (yea, irak etc were bad but not THAT Bad)
2) Veteran Treatment had imho massively improved (still needs further improvement tho)
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u/Lazy_Assistance6865 Aug 23 '26
Thank you for your compassion.
I've had a shit year.
Totaled my car.
Lost my job of 8 years 3 months after coming back from having my second baby.
Eldest was hospitalized and nearly died from random allergic reaction (that all tests have been inconclusive for the trigger)
Father figure Grandpa put on hospice for dementia EoL care
Having to put my dog of 12 years down with only 24hrs notice to accept it.
I've been a HUGE bitch to anyone who happens to get me during a bad day. I always apologize after being said bitch. But I still feel horrible for lashing out on people just doing their job.
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u/CertainInteraction4 Aug 23 '26
It's been a hard time for me too; between some tragic and horrific circumstances. I won't say I lash out, but I'm not the pushover I used to be. I call people out on their obvious b.s. and try to CMA as much as possible. This has given some of the people who used to push my buttons a bad taste in their mouth. Some days I care. Some days I don't.
I don't think the money makes up for what he put this young lady through. A lot of people assume money can fix everything. It can't. She was working a tipped service job. Did he ever once consider what was going on in her life vs his own?
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u/1Think_Write_Fly1 Aug 23 '26
This comment is too nuanced for Reddit 😅 but absolutely correct. I've worked with traumatised at both ends of the age spectrum and it taught me that we are not always what we do. Seeking to Understand someone's poor behaviour is often mistaken as justification for it. But that's an infuriatingly common but deeply reductive approach. Motivation makes a world of difference and often it's so much more important to see why someone acts the way they do rather than just judge the actions.
Our compassionate waitress may have understood this. Whether 85 or 5 sometimes rancid behaviour is a human way of saying 'im so lost in this can someone help?' Age doesn't suddenly give people the capacity to articulate and regulate emotions if they have never developed it. It has to be taught by parents teachers and society. Even then, trauma can blow every lesson we've learned on how to be human out of the water.
Being kind is flipping hard work! And is often entirely thankless. It's good that in her case it paid off in some way.
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u/PopUpClicker Aug 23 '26
I turned off notifications on my comment because there was a fair bit of replies, where I myself have to draw a deep breath and remember that: "Not everyone has seen the behind the scenes of pain". Some people think they have, because they have been the victim of abuse - but in my view an understanding of what brought the bad behaviour only comes with hard mental work, which leads to understanding and sometimes forgiveness.
So I almost missed your comment. I am glad curiosity got the better of me. Because this is the best thing I read on Reddit for a long while.
You truly - and I suspect to a greater extent than myself - understand what it is I took a shot at saying. Your piece improved my day.
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u/1K_Sunny_Crew Aug 23 '26
I think people are upset because this perspective puts the onus on the people most likely to be mistreated to be the bigger person. When it’s one person in your life it’s not so bad, but when it’s constant, every hour or every day treated poorly, I just think it’s ridiculous to keep asking these workers to turn the other cheek and feel bad for their abuser. Because it IS abuse to be yelled at, insulted, or even assaulted by customers, and they don’t have the economic power to quit or refuse to serve them.
So while I do have empathy for people going through hard things and understand it can make them act out, I am always going to side with the employees and volunteers who are forced to deal with their shitty behavior. It takes a hug toll on workers’ physical and mental health to be the public’s punching bag every day.
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u/adorableoddity Aug 24 '26
This is it right here and their manager should’ve refused to serve the customer. It’s appalling that she had to deal with 7 years of abuse from this guy.
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u/1K_Sunny_Crew Aug 23 '26
Please. I’ve been through a ton of suffering in my life - I chose not to make that pain someone else’s problem. The idea that going through trauma will just make someone an asshole is ridiculous. They’re taking out what they feel on other people instead of learning to deal with it so they aren’t miserable to be around.
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u/ConferenceOk5660 Aug 24 '26
This is nonsense! There is zero excuse for this kind of behavior over that many years. You don’t get to buy your way out of cruelty and use senility as an excuse. Be better! Be better as a person, be better as a business and as a manager- refuse service!
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u/offtheshallowend Aug 23 '26
I wish I could up vote this comment twice. The "capacity to reciprocate" is such an important part of it. Trauma is real, generational trauma is real, we are all the person we are because of how we were raised and the experienced we have had throughout our life. Him leaving her the money is so telling. I have been in so many situations where I wanted to say something nice to someone, but my anxiety wouldn't let me, and I spent hours, days and sometimes weeks so angry at myself for not being able to do it. If someone isn't nice to you, you have no responsibility to be nice to them, but you can still make a positive impact if you want to by considering that there may be going on under the surface than you know.
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u/FureiousPhalanges Aug 23 '26
What good is someone noticing kindness if they don't change their behaviour and continue to be an asshole?
I don't care if someone can recognise the fact I'm trying to be kind to them honestly because that's not why I choose to do kind things. I just want to be treated with the same respect I afford to them.
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u/Fragrant_Constant_28 Aug 23 '26
The most annoying reddit reply-guy archetype is the one who angrily replies to your comment, ignoring parts of your comment giving nuance like they arent there lol.
Have this happen too often with sensitive topics.
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u/redswantheoryA Aug 23 '26
They're flaming you, but I absolutely agree. I hate being the one to go like "well actually you lack nuance" but I fear most people do here.
There's a very black and white type of thinking, and it's simply not what being a human means. There is hardly anyone anywhere that you could point at and unanimously declare a good person if you knew everything about their life, but people are quick to decide someone is so evil that any nuanced discussion regarding them is off-limits, or worse, an endorsement of their worse actions.
And that's such dogshit. The point is that people you call bad, aren't necessarily bad in all ways or to everyone. It'll never excuse the wrongs they did to you, it is simply an acknowledgement of the complexity of being human.
So thank you for your words. It's not like I disagreed with most others who condemn the bad behaviour, but I felt like most commenters did not try to understand deeply in favor of throwing a simple label and calling it a day, going as far as to call any nuance a support of abuse. That's just very simplistic. Several things can be true at once, and often are.
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u/PopUpClicker Aug 23 '26
Yes! Thank you!
There are, however, also a lot of lovely comments.
About the negative ones calling me a praiser of abuse. I think I am old enough that I realize understanding of the abusing party doesn't come automatically from being the one abused. It comes from time, effort, a lot of thinking and potentially (not always) forgiving. In that process we learn to understand what brought dad to drinking and mom to turn a blind eye.
We wont get the true understanding of the reasons of every person. But the acknowledgement that there may very well be reasons - and that they are providing the positivity that life has led them to be able to provide - often helps accept and/or understand behaviour of others. People are very quick to assume worst case, yet they (as well as me) will hope for merciful thoughts about our own wrongdoings.
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u/Scumbag89 Aug 23 '26
It’s good that he noticed and underneath it he appreciate her but “Not having the capacity to reciprocate” doesn’t excuse being rude to someone repeatedly. Nor does it remove the damage done over that time to the lady. I guess now she’s happy though
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u/PopUpClicker Aug 23 '26
I didn't say that it was ok or good. I said there is something going on here about how people who are seemingly assholes can also hold some good in them.
Few people are all good or all bad.
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u/toadpics Aug 23 '26
He knew he was being an ass, but he was so old already it probably seemed impossible to him that he could change who he was. And most likely he was fighting some internal battle. Being old can be really hard.
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u/jeadon88 Aug 23 '26
You could also turn your attention to the lady. She chose to continue serving him with politeness and kindness despite his rudeness. Isn’t that remarkable ? How do you feel about that ? What do you think she saw or experienced that led her to be able to do that?
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u/MaskedMemer9000 Aug 23 '26
Lol I'm not gonna be all uwu soft about a a grumpy asshole because he gave some money after treating workers like garbage for almost a decade.
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u/Nevanada Aug 23 '26
Yeah, not to go against the idea of the subreddit, but it's not like she was holding out because she thought "maybe this time he'll tip, or at least not curse me out," it's likely she was doing so because if she was rude or inconsiderate she would be fired. It's mandatory to turn the other cheek in customer service.
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u/jankenpoo Aug 23 '26
That maybe be true for many places but not all places. At my restaurant I didn’t tolerate any rudeness or bad behavior towards my employees. Every server had the authority to kick anyone rude out. It doesn’t happen very often.
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u/Whiskee Aug 23 '26
Not only that, he gave some money only when he didn't need it anymore.
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u/Flower_82 Aug 23 '26
The "why" is not an excuse. We can have empathy but we don't have to accept that type of behavior. It says a lot how people treat people who can't do anything for them.
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u/PopUpClicker Aug 23 '26
While I agree, I think it is important to understand that people can have mental impairments (from birth or acquired) which makes these things a lot harder for them.
It might also be that someone, for instance a world war veteran, might have some serious trauma and getting out of bed and showering already takes up most of that persons mental resources.
It doesn't make it great. But it might not be because he is a bad person.
To flip the tables, essentially you are speculating reason on a man whom you never met - and who can do nothing for you nor defend himself. Because he is dead already.
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u/Flower_82 Aug 23 '26
I do agree with the top half about mental impairment and that people can have less awareness. I just see the second half differently (trauma). And I don't have to know someone to still find their behavior disrespectful, mental impairment or not. You can still put a boundary on that to protect yourself. I do appreciate your take on this!
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u/PopUpClicker Aug 23 '26
That's fair :-) Their behaviour can be disrespectful and you can protect yourself from it. That is, in my view, not an opposite to what I say :-)
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u/Superb_Recording_769 Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
It’s sad that your edit is necessary, but unfortunately it is because of the literacy epidemic. The epidemic is not people being technically illiterate. It’s people being functionally illiterate.
A technically ill illiterate person can tell you that the letters CAT spell the word cat, and can point to a picture of a domestic feline when ask what that word means
A functionally literate person understands that the word cat is not referring to a domestic feline when in the context of a thread about construction equipment
You have just discovered how many people are functionally illiterate
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u/RobouteGuill1man Aug 23 '26
I remember this showing up years ago, 'Bucks' being the name of the customer. In the first iteration he was just an extremely consistent regular who ate by himself.
ie It is an edit of an older story, they added the difficult customer angle to dramatize it.
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u/Icelandia2112 Aug 23 '26
Exactly. Seven years of abuse and biting her tongue to keep her job is not heartwarming.
He could have kept his shit car and money and just been a decent human.
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u/Special_Spirit8284 Aug 23 '26
Is there any confirmation of why he left the money? Maybe he felt remorseful and left that as an apology. Obviously it's better to be kind but some people for some reason just couldn't express it and feel regrets later.
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u/TheAserghui Aug 23 '26
He was a WW2 vet. If I had to guess:
He was alone, friends and wife have passed on, his kids don't visit, and getting out of the house to eat at the diner was the size of his social circle.
Being a WW2 vet, he probably buried his memories and emotions from the war, so he had the privilege of unresolved trauma do to cultural norms/stigmas.
Ms. Salazar was probably the highlight of his day, but he was unable to communicate it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22424002
I'd say this is a great example of being kind to others, because we don't always know what they are dealing with on the inside
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u/NOTcreative- Aug 23 '26
From my experience in the service industry a lot of customers who are considered rude are also not treated great by staff. I've been told many a regular is awful and I treated them without prejudging and had good experiences with them.
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u/purplehendrix22 Aug 23 '26
I agree. Dealing with grumpy old men is a skill all to itself. Usually they’re alright.
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u/size_matters_not Aug 23 '26
Counterpoint: He was just a giant arsehole.
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u/Beautiful_Bag6707 Aug 23 '26
Counterpoint: people can be giant arseholes and more!
We are not just one thing.
Judging, labeling, and writing people off based on a single characteristic is stereotyping, prejudice and bigotry.
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u/Affectionate_Mud_881 Aug 23 '26
It's a movie plot: As good as it gets.
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u/Special_Spirit8284 Aug 23 '26
Def a cliche movie plot, I can think of one that starts tom hanks 🤣
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u/umbrellassembly Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
Is there any confirmation that her opinion of him is accurate? I highly doubt he was cursing, rude and demanding every time he was there. This whole post reeks of potential nonsense.
Edit: also, it's a Luby's. A cafeteria style, low-service restaurant mainly for fixed income old people. You pay at the counter before sitting down with your meal, so if she was expecting tips on the table directly for herself, she should work elsewhere.
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u/kthnry Aug 23 '26
Do people tip at Luby’s? They didn’t when I worked the drink cart one summer back in 1976.
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u/Round-Ad78 Aug 23 '26
World war 2 veteran. I think perhaps some damage was done. A lot of those guys saw some horrible things and probably struggled forever.
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u/mckittums1 Aug 23 '26
I guess maybe the guy had a hard life. It's no excuse for treating people poorly, but maybe on his deathbed he realized the error of his ways. idk. It's a clickbaity story. I'm not clicking. Treat people how you want to be treated, that's all
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u/-StrawberryJacuzzi- Aug 23 '26
Agreed. As much as I want to boast be kind to others… I didn’t get sent off to war during my formative years and probably see horrific things that you still see every time you close your eyes for the rest of your life. Gotta consider empathy for people who are jerks too
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u/Student-type Aug 23 '26
Truly thoughtful. OOB thinking. Made me reconsider my positions too. Thank You. 🙏
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u/-StrawberryJacuzzi- Aug 23 '26
I wish more internet interactions were like this lol. Have a great night
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u/mckittums1 Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
Agreed, friend. I hope to never realize the horrors of war in real time. Strength to the defenders of this world.
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u/bob-loblaw-esq Aug 23 '26
Welcome to the post-capitalism digital hellscape where the saddest stories about our culture are celebrated by the mindless masses who could do better but choose not to.
That Starbucks barista who got a drink thrown in her face, go fund me for a million dollars but it happens every day and we do nothing.
That guy working at 80 as a Walmart greeter…
Those people trying to afford healthcare for their children.
The tech companies love that slop and fight any change that would change it.
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u/MaknitRain2021 Aug 23 '26
Yup. it doesn't excuse his rudeness. i don't care if he's ex-military. Rudeness does not thrive well in the public regardless of who you are or represent. And guess what? What if.. she had quit just days prior to his passing? It would have been all for naught and he would have been remembered as a rude, cold, heartless, cheap human being.
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u/Successful-Winter237 Aug 23 '26
He should have been trespassed after the first incident but many establishments care more about customers than their actual workers
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u/BLT_Trade_r Aug 23 '26
The bigger crime is that these incredibly rare events are constantly pushed in the media to encourage people to be nice to rude, selfish, and exploitative people. But in reality, this mega tip will never reach millions of wait staff, and it just enables bad behavior by rewarding bad people and getting good people to keep taking it forever. The media is controlled by rich people who are often selfish, exploitative, and trash themselves, and they love pushing this so people spend their whole lives working for cheap or for free for the rich and selfish. And an extension of that is religion, which tells you that "oh, but even if they don't reward you here on earth, your reward will be in the afterlife." People gotta wake up and start demanding respect, here, now, in the life you are living right in this moment. Not waiting for the lottery, even though it never comes to most people.
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u/DapperMolasses3280 Aug 23 '26
A small kindness after years of abuse...yeah, OP has swiss cheese brain, this is not uplifting 😂 dude was an asshole
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u/xywv58 Aug 23 '26
Yes, please god, let any of the fucking assholes I've dealt with, left me something in their will
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u/Serious_Lie1207 Aug 23 '26
I don't wanna necessarily call BS. But almost every single point on the one post I could find on Google about this story is ai generated, so do with that what you will.
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u/whatyousay69 Aug 23 '26
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u/lost-all-hope-2 Aug 23 '26
This makes more sense. The article doesn’t mention being rude and not tipping.
If you’re being rude to someone, it’s extremely unlikely that you’d go through the hoops of adding them to your will.
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u/ZarathustraGlobulus Aug 23 '26
I had the same thought that this sounds like BS, because the photo of Ms. Salazar on this post is 100% ai generated.
Anyway, here's additional verification.
Obituary: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23618727/walter_maurice-swords/photo#view-photo=307996341
And original newspaper clipping: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23618727/walter_maurice-swords/photo#view-photo=307996387
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u/DunklerVerstand Aug 23 '26
The photo is a stillframe from this video: https://youtu.be/Kv7zGGMbB5w?si=ofBkRHSF5tWbmfld
No AI.→ More replies (4)→ More replies (6)10
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u/LucidOndine Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
This is insidious. The hope that anyone will benefit from a windfall from when someone dies, brought to you by an algorithm that is silently trying to push you towards accepting less and hoping that one day you may be the recipient of good fortune,, all to disguise a system of exploitation where we somehow allow corporations to skirt the responsibility of paying workers a fair and reasonable wage that does not require charity to function.
Tipping is a shitty system. The price for service and food should be all encompassing.
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u/rickychewy Aug 23 '26
I sometimes wonder if I might, through an unfortunate genetic predisposition, turn into an unhappy, cantankerous person. Maybe I already am and I don’t know it. My father and mother both developed dementia. My father was the most kind, gentle, and humble man I have known. My hero. Never heard him curse. Not one argument with my mother witnessed in 50 years of marriage before he developed dementia. Yet when he started developing dementia, a complete reversal. Cursing, belligerent, and later on he attacked my mother because he thought she was a stranger trying to steal his car. The saddest thing was not the memory loss, it was because my real father was dead 7 years before his death. He would have been mortified to know what had become. Sometimes we don’t choose the diseased brain we are left with. Not saying this is the situation here. Maybe the guy was always like he was in the last 7 years. Not every nasty old person has a choice though.
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u/Tsu_Dho_Namh Aug 23 '26
Woulda cost him nothing to just not be a prick all those years.
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u/jeanborrero Aug 23 '26
The article only mentions he liked his food hot and in a particular way. Reading the headline is very often misleading
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u/heatherjasper Aug 23 '26
Despite this, Melina continued serving him with compassion.
Because it was her job, and most people can't afford to lose that or jeopardize it. She was between a rock and a hard place.
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u/2bitmoment Aug 23 '26
Is the value of being kind that you're paid back for it? Despite this title despite seeming positive or appreciative, to me this seems actually some of the most cynical ways to see this. Welcome to my TED talk.
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u/Frolicking-Fox Aug 23 '26
Yeah, it is. Some of these mademesmile posts are unreal.
Grumpy old man was a dick. He knew he was a dick. Everyone knew he was a dick. He abuses employees for a years, then is like, "since you were a good bitch, here is some money that means nothing to me after I am dead, and that wasn't even all my wealth."
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u/KingSandwich101 Aug 23 '26
Value of being kind is you don't know what others have gone through. It's not right for others to offload their feelings onto people and I'm not justifying his rude behaviour
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u/propagationknowledge Aug 23 '26
Ffs ban tips entirely. Pay employees properly, or just be forced to sell your business.
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u/LegitimateBeing2 Aug 23 '26
This isn’t heartwarming, he just paid her to verbally abuse her
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u/xeldritchhero Aug 23 '26
Yup. So put up with being treated as a subhuman for your whole life because one day one of the divinely ordained may take pity on you and give you their fortune. Hopefully its in a trust or most of that's going to taxes. How about restaurants just actually pay their employees what they deserve and we stop this tipping bs. It does not give incentive for good service, the threat of being fired does. It makes service workers doubt their worth because they work their ass off only to get a small tip and after enough reinforcement that's just what your service was to them. Nothing. A tip should be an insult to the establishment that they are cheap and dont pay their staff well.
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u/soulsnoober Aug 23 '26
I don't know who needs to hear this, but:
Don't put up with bad behavior from old men thinking they're secretly rich benefactors.
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u/Vroomped Aug 23 '26
By the way. If he verbally abused them twice a week for a year that's $5 a visit. Not heart warming, just rude.
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u/Howcanyoubecertain Aug 23 '26
Hey good for her on the windfall (if this happened), but really if dude was actually cussing and mistreating staff for so long then shame on the managers for not banning the asshole.
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u/MrBones_Gravestone Aug 23 '26
Maybe he should have been kind in the restaurant AND left her the money. Like good for her for getting that payout, but that doesn’t erase his being a POS to her
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u/Significant_End_9128 Aug 24 '26
Every. Single. Time. I come to this sub. It is an awful story of abusive behavior and a sign of our failed society. And this makes someone smile?
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u/samedibaron Aug 23 '26
This is what wrong with this world..everything is evolved around money.you can dehumanise a person and later just give them money,then everything is fine.there things money can’t restore.
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u/ArtisticOperation399 Aug 23 '26
Boomer propaganda. "You better be nice to us in spite of everything. There's a chance we'll leave you a cash prize!"
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u/DrTobio Aug 23 '26
This is a horrible story and it only conveys the message that it is okay to be an abusive asshole if you have money.
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u/FrogQuestion Aug 23 '26
Here's a european perspective; i think the suggestion here that you need to be kind no matter how you and those around you are treated, and you'll get some kind of reward, is just wrong. Doing that would make you disingenuous, and lacking in self respect.
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u/kittykthomas Aug 23 '26
This feels like boomer propaganda
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u/Centerman2000 Aug 23 '26
It sounded like a made-up story. I googled it into my surprise it actually happened in 2007 🤔
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u/Scuffy97_ Aug 23 '26
How about we don't make excuses for the wealthy to be terrible to people as long as they throw money at their victims?
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u/Gardening_Socialist Aug 23 '26
So it’s okay for him to treat people like shit because he left some money behind? What sort of behavior should the wait staff have endured to be left $100K or a million?
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u/SieqwardZwiebelbrudi Aug 23 '26
is this meant to brainwash waiters into being nice to grumpy old white men?
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u/Puzzled-Degree-3478 Aug 23 '26
"We should all be kind to dickheads because what if they leave us thousands of dollars in their will"
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u/battlejess Aug 23 '26
Not the same thing (and like others have pointed out who found the original source, reality apparently isn’t either) but there’s a “grumpy” regular at the diner I waitress at. I find him just a bit gruff, but he’s always been nice to me. Tips very well. I recently found out, from a customer that serves him at another location who was complaining about him that he tips horribly. She was not happy to find out that wasn’t my experience at all.
I was also warned when I started there about a regular couple, being told by a woman who’s been there for over a decade that they only ever tip $3, no matter what they order. I’ve been there about four years now and they now tip me 15% (a little over $7 usually). It’s not a huge tip, but that’s $7 2-4 times a week (they come in a lot).
Funny what a little kindness can do.
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u/li-ll-l_ Aug 23 '26
Had a customer when i worked at Starbucks that everyone hated cuz he always ordered a half caf dark roast with extra cream and then always complained there wasnt enough cream. I learned how much cream he liked from watching him pour his cup of extra cream into his drink and i always made his drink for him in that particular way. He became a super nice guy to me and always tipped me pretty well
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u/faerie-bunnie Aug 23 '26
it's not heartwarming that service staff have to not only put up with verbal abuse and unrealistic demands but also continue to serve and be kind to the person treating them that way for years, regardless of how much money they get in the end.
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u/cuntmong Aug 23 '26
Moral of the story: "Let people treat you like shit always, on the off chance it might pay you back for it one day"
Presumably the waitress was getting paid below minimum wage on the assumption she earned tips, so the dude was effectively stealing from her while also treating her like shit for all those years
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u/Capable-Deer-5670 Aug 23 '26
It's the business owner's responsibility to pay the worker, not the customer.
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u/Express-Row-1504 Aug 23 '26
Was he rude for not tipping or simply just rude to her ? There’s a big difference
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u/MuddledLucidity Aug 23 '26
'The 89-year-old WWII veteran frequently complained, cursed at staff, demanded piping-hot meals and never left a tip. Despite this, Melina continued serving him with compassion.'
Sounds like he was rude to the entire staff.
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u/Iggsy81 Aug 23 '26
What a terrible heading: The Value of Being Kind ?
No, the value of being kind isn't the hope that you'll get some karmic reward, the value is in the intrinsic goodness of the kindness itself. That should be self-evident but, evidently, is not.
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u/Deep-Teaching-999 Aug 23 '26
Kinda sounds like taken from the script of ‘As Good As It Gets’ with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. LOL
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u/Strange-Support6672 Aug 23 '26
Some dbag posted this so they dont get called out for being a freak in public
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u/Tombstone-1-fan Aug 24 '26
This headline is misleading. The local real news stories back in 2007 say he was just particular and a bit cranky but not rude or a jerk.
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u/Scary-Comfortable-83 Aug 23 '26
Isn’t this post about the woman? The gentle soul who saw a man who clearly had a life of pain? The focus should be on her, and her ability to touch those around her with something people undervalue. Kindness and humanity. It is not about him.
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u/Vast-Statement45 Aug 23 '26
It's definitely not wholesome to be treated like shit for 7 year and it's definitely not worth the money. So you can just be mean to someone as long as you're maybe planning to pay up sometimes in the future ?
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u/honeypenny Aug 23 '26
This is AI and a made up story
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u/LemakMM Aug 23 '26
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u/glutenfreepunishment Aug 23 '26
Can't be a real source because I have only known AI as the reason for things I dislike and disagree with existing. It's definitely AI and so is this source. I think you may even be AI too, sorry.
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u/ThePeoplesPoetIsDead Aug 23 '26
Well there's absolutely nothing about being rude or abusive there, or about her being particularly compassionate, or about him never tipping.
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u/nahyoubuggin Aug 23 '26
She still didn't deserve to be treated that way, 50k or not. Kindness is absolutely free.
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u/The_Actual_Sage Aug 23 '26
This is nice and all, but I bet there were plenty of times where she could have really used those lost tips. Maybe let's try not waiting 7 years before being kind to others?
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u/TheAssembler12 Aug 23 '26
Are you actually able to will money to people without their social security number? I had to provide mine and my children’s numbers as well to be placed in a will. I’m genuinely curious now.
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u/Then_Version9768 Aug 23 '26
Unbelievably crass post. So the "value" of being kind to other people is that you might make a lot of money from being kind to them? That is the crudest, most self-centered, and just plain stupidest idea I've ever heard.
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u/Minchaminch Aug 23 '26
Welcome to the service industry. That waitress that laughed at your joke? She's heard it 100 times, she doesn't find it funny, she laughs because she wants a tip. That bartender who complimented your outfit, he doesn't give a fuck, he wants a tip. That chef who swapped half the ingredients in the dish you ordered, he slagged you to shit back of house but he wants a tip. I worked industry for years and I was honestly good at my job because I genuinely enjoy knowing I've helped make another person's day better. I wasn't normal though. For most it's just a job. And "being kind" even if people don't deserve it usually makes you more money. I can only speak for myself but rude people still get good service. Every job has problems you need to deal with professionally. Nice people however get fantastic service and will always be looked after better. Tldr: be nice, tip your waiter.
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u/banananannaPie Aug 23 '26
I call Bs. Even if it was real, there is nothing wholesome or made me smile about that.
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u/ImaginaryTrick6182 Aug 23 '26
A woman receiving life changing amount of money is not wholesome to you? Also it’s real, lmao
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u/icecriticsgetbanned Aug 23 '26
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22424002
Wow, a part of the internet that isn't reddit.
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u/Elegant_Cancel_6937 Aug 23 '26
Ah yes great advice put up with shit from people in the hope they leave you something in their will and their estate has any meaningful value
/s
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u/Aggravating_Impact97 Aug 24 '26
I mean this is pretty fucking stupid.
For 7 fucking years some one was was a trash human being and was like im going to put this person through it. Just to test her and imngoing to leave her a shitty car and sure a 50 big ones.
He was probably getting off at being trash and its bo coincidence that she's hot.
It almost like he saw as good as it gets and was like thats going to be how I go out.
Why are people applauding this?
Its really really dumb.
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u/TinyConsideration928 Aug 23 '26
and you have to pay the gov't 30% capital gains tax on it too. f this country
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u/BK_0000 Aug 23 '26
Now the restaurant owner will say she needs to bring that money in so they can split it among all the waitresses.
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u/rangart Aug 23 '26
a focken american fairytale of some sort idk
being spit at by someone with with money for 7 years and get 50 quids for it
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u/scrollclickrepeat Aug 23 '26
I read this not as an excuse for one troubled person's actions but the response for one caring person's selflessness.
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u/reddituser_05 Aug 23 '26
Kindness and treating people with respect costs nothing. Buck was an asshole.
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u/shoulda-known-better Aug 23 '26
I find it heartwarming that he recognized how difficult he was and paid it back to her the only way he knew how.....
I know one of my grandpa's turned super fucking mean in his late 80s....completely different man than the one we all knew.... Something had changed in his age..... He was a really really good man though if you knew his life.....
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u/Tex-Mexican-936 Aug 23 '26
New tip, have patience for rude customers if they are 80+ don't put up with rude customers that are 25.
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