Gay Server Stiffed By Homophobes Gets a $4,500 Tip

Maybe the homophobic customers thought they were being hilarious by not tipping their gay server at a restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin and instead leaving a nasty note. It was that server who got the last laugh, however, along with what was likely the biggest tip of their life — a whopping $4,500 — all because of that note. 

Eric Salzwedel started a #VenmoChallenge after he shared that his friend, the server (who has asked to remain anonymous), received a message left on a receipt from one of his customers. “Service was good but we don’t tip sinfull [sic] homosexuals,” it read. The bill, which was for $142, also had the tip line crossed out. 

Naturally, this kind of treatment of his friend didn’t sit well with Salzwedel, so he decided to do something about it. “This really upset me that someone would do something like this,” Salzwedel told Channel3000. “To go to the extent of saying it was good service, but because of their sexual orientation, they decided not to give them a tip.”

Salzwedel shared a photo of the receipt on Facebook and asked for donations to help fundraise a tip for his friend. “Seeing this receipt, I immediately wanted to do another #VenmoChallenge, specifically for the reason to show there is more love than hate in this world and to [lift] their spirits. Within 36 hours I had received $4,500 from folks sending an extra tip for $5, $10, $20+ from across the country,” he said.

Approximately 250 people came through, racking up a very respectable tip for Salzwedel’s friend, which he got to deliver himself. “On Tuesday evening we were able to surprise the server with the tip and to let them know that people love them for who they are and to not listen to those who just want to spread hate onto others. As you may expect they were surprised [by] the tip and extremely grateful,” Salzwedel shared.