A trio of West Texas Republicans left an extremely generous tip and a note calling for American unity for a Black waitress at Busboys and Poets in Washington D.C.
Waitress Rosalynd Harris thought Monday, Jan. 23, was going to be a regular day on the job, but, by the end of her shift, she had gained a new perspective and a large $450 tip added to a $72.60 bill.
“I could tell they were from the South because they had their cowboy hats on and I was like, ‘Oh, you’re not from the city,'” Harris tells WUSA 9 News.
The three patrons came into town from Texas for President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration and Harris told the outlet that their presence contrasted greatly with the usual crowd the restaurant attracts.
“It was an interesting situation because it is a liberal, Democratic kind of feel to the entire Busboys establishment,” she explains. “The people that come in, the people it attracts.”
On the receipt, there was a note praising the young woman’s service and calling for American unity through smiles and general kindness. The note read: “We may come from different cultures, and we may disagree on certain issues, but if everyone would share their smile and kindness like your beautiful smile, our country will come together as one people, not race, not gender, just American. God bless.”
Harris, who works seven days a week either at the restaurant or as a freelance dancer and creative director, did not get the men’s names. “[One of the men] just told me he had never experienced that kind of atmosphere before,” Harris recalls.
With her newfound windfall, Harris told WUSA 9 News that she plans to pay off some bills.
“We may have different opinions and disagree on different issues, but the fact that he still looked at me as an equal and someone of value, it said something, like OK, not all hope is lost,” Harris says. “Never judge a book by its cover and always be open with people to experience something miraculous like that.”
