Eating and drinking customs traditionally call for a tip of 15% to 20% of the order total. But Chelsea Lantrip, who works as a bartender, was treated to a tip of greater value than that formula dictates – bigger even than the order itself. This act of generosity came from a mysterious patron whose actions couldn’t have come at a more crucial time.
Cleburne, Texas is home to Chances Dance Hall. There, Lantrip works as a bartender under the name Chelsea Bell. She knows the regulars, and as a result, can spot newcomers when they walk in. A pair of unfamiliar faces entered the establishment on Tuesday, when everything else seemed routine. But one of them was gearing up to unleash one pleasant surprise after another.
Pleasant surprises come when needed most
Carmen Senese, who owns Chances Dance Hall, knows that Lantrip has it hard. She lives “paycheck to paycheck, tip to tip,” meaning there isn’t extra money; everything has to go to the necessities. Lantrip is also a single mother to a son who is bound for Texas A&M University this autumn. His scholarship and grant help but do not quite cover everything.
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Lantrip has said she’s “so proud” of her “brilliant” son. Being unable to help him more has stung, though, and it seemed this would be the norm, staying just afloat and only surviving. Then, on Tuesday, in walked two strangers among the usual patrons of Chances Dance Hall. No one, not Lantrip or Senese, were able to find out much about this patron, who proceeded to order drinks for the whole bar. But she had even more plans for that night.
A bartender gets the tip of a lifetime
The order came to $179.50 but the mystery patron offered the bartender, Lantrip, a tip amounting to $1,000. That seems stunning enough, and was shocking for Lantrip who revealed, “I started crying,” but then the generous customer declared, “No, that’s not good enough.” So, the tip was raised to $2,000. Between then and the moment Lantrip finally retrieved the tip, the final amount came to $4,000. This was hard to fathom, and Lantrip admitted, “I didn’t believe it until it went through the credit card machine, I still didn’t believe it until it hit the bank.”
What inspired this? How did this generous, mysterious patron come to give just the right gift at just the right time? So far, all that’s known for sure is that the woman recently came into an inheritance and wanted to “tithe it to a stranger.” Lantrip has her own thoughts. “She is a gift from God,” she believes. “I believe in guardian angels, I believe in people coming into your life at the right time that you need them. And she was definitely one of them.”
What is the most inspiring act of generosity you’ve witnessed?
