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This is the actual cash wad that server Greg Rubar received Saturday.
Three days later and Greg Rubar still can’t believe his good fortune. But there it is, staring at him plain as day: 50 crisp $100 bills.
The tidy wad of cash was given to Rubar Saturday as he began his shift at D’Amico’s Italian Market Café in Rice Village, where he’s been a waiter for 16 years. It was a gift from a couple Rubar has waited on for about eight years.
“He said, ‘I’m not going to be giving you a tip for awhile. Take this money. Go buy yourself a car,’ ” Rubar said Tuesday, recalling the $5,000 his customer pressed on him.
Why a car? The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, knew that Rubar had been without transportation for weeks since his car was flooded in standing water off a freeway exit after a thunderstorm several weeks ago. Since then Rubar and his companion, Terri Elsik, who also works at the restaurant, have had to take taxis and rely on the kindness of owners Nash D’Amico and Brina D’Amico Donaldson who have loaned them a catering truck when not in use.
“Nobody ever gives me anything,” said Rubar, adding that he hesitated taking the money. “They just wanted to help me out. They’re nice people.”
Very nice, said D’Amico: “What this tells me is that there are people out there willing to help people.”
D’Amico said he got to the restaurant about 30 minutes after the couple had already left (he knows them but wouldn’t name them because “they’re both real humble and they wouldn’t want to come forward”). He said Rubar tried to give the money back but “they wouldn’t hear of it.”
The gift – not a tip since it was not attached to a bill – underscores the relationship his servers have with his customers, D’Amico said. “We have customers who care about us and have a relationship beyond ‘May I take your order please?’ ”
Rubar said he’s still rattled by the incident. “The next time I see them I want to offer to pay it back. To me, it would be more of a gift if it was a loan,” he said.
But if the do-gooders refuse, he said he’s going to put all the money to the purpose they intended.
“I’m going to get the best car I can get for the money.”
GREAT STORY!! No matter what the news makes us think I truly believe there are more GOOD people in this world than BAD!! Peace...
buy*
I lost my car too.. :(
$5k ain't enough to be me no escalade!!!
But it may be enough to buy you an English grammar book!
GREG, you ungrateful %$^%&$%#&^. How DARE you post something along the lines of??: "$5k ain't enough to be me no escalade"!!! I can't believe I am reading this. Those good samaritans didn't owe you A THING!!! You best be counting your blessings!!!
hahahaha, You think that's the real Greg? The internet's going to be scary if you believe everything.
Yes, Doogie Houser, I DO think and believe that is the real Greg. Anymore questions????
Wow. This is awesome. Made me smile.
Made me smile too, Anthony! Until I was foolish enough to read the rest of the comments where the idiots turned it into a political argument! Good grief...so much jealousy and anger in the world!!
"Go by yourself a car"? While you are by a car, why don't you BUY yourself a car?
Or, if you're by yourself, then you can buy whatever type of car you want!
Go buy yourself a car.
Random acts of kindness. I was in line at a Starbucks drive thru the other day and the car in front of me paid for my order. Just because. :)
This is not random! It statistically exponent to the fifth power!
Shhhh, don't publicize it. The IRS will be all over you like white on rice.
The gift was under $20,000 so the IRS cannot do a thing unless the waiter owes for prior obligations.
Unfortunately it wasn't a "gift", but a tip. Tips are taxable and I'm sure the IRS will look into this now.
Not attached to a bill, according to the article, so it is a gift.
Go "by" yourself a car? Whoever wrote this needs to go back to school.
Dear Liberals: Remember how you say rich people are all evil? Trust me, these people help more individuals than all Democrats combined.
Which liberal said are rich people are evil?
Just about every liberal I have ever known.
I know several rich liberals and I can assure you that's not what they are saying.
They might be Democrats
are we assuming things? because this goes against most ideals brought forth by many conservatives, considering they gave this guy a "hand-out" instead of "pulling himself up" via the glorious free market. one might assume their kindness shows their liberal ideals of helping others instead of profit margins. but i'm also assuming, isn't assuming fun?
Actually, he IS already working - has worked there for 16 years, I believe the article said? He wasn't looking for a hand-out. This is precisely the sort of person who deserves help. Not some able bodied person hanging out on their sofa or wherever grabbing their extended unemployment pay because McDonald's or a second job is beneath them. Besides that, THEY gave their own money. Liberals usually want to give someone else's money, not their own. Take a look at those liberal politicians, the majority give much less to charity than the conservatives.
It has not been my life experience that "Liberals usually want to give someone else's money, not their own." I think that is what you want to believe so you can feel good about attacking Liberals. How common is it your personal experience to give away your own wealth or income to someone else?
Very common. In addition to charities (not a church), we have also supported various extended family members over the years. If the government would allow us to keep more of our money instead of paying it out in exorbitant taxes, we could give even more directly to charities that actually help those unable to help themselves. I don't believe the government uses money wisely. My husband is retired military and I worked for the government while we were overseas and we both saw so much waste. It is generally the liberal politicians who want to take more in taxes and that is mainly where I was coming from. In addition, all those millionaires (which I will never be) who want the government to increase their taxes, declined when asked point blank to make a contribution to the IRS on their own. I think conservatives get a bad rap thanks to the media and I'm tired of it.
Interesting "fact" about those generous conservatives. Got any data to back that up or is it just something you got from Faux News?
This guy is my father. He would never accept a "handout." He deserves every bit of this good karma. If you're jealous because of the lack of good karma you've been receiving then maybe you should consider being a better person. You don't know anything about him or about the good hearted people who did this for him. They believe he deserves this gift because they actually know him on a personal level. If you knew him then you would believe it, too. It has nothing to do with politics so why you would even mention liberal ideals boggles me. As for the rest of you simple minded people.
I think your father must be a really great guy and if I had the 5k to spare or a great car to sell him at a discount, I certainly would do the same!!!
Good luck and a hug to your father!
I'd guess they're probably large Obama donors.
Wow. Leave it to the Chronicle commenters to turn any story into a political argument. For pete's sake, can we just enjoy a nice story about nice people without bringing politics into it???
I am proud to be a Democrat and a mildly Liberal proponent. I am lucky to be mildly rich. I know and love lots of rich people; in fact, most of my friends are rich, with some hugely rich. I have some really rich clients. I have some rich relatives I adore. Not a person I have named do I think is evil.
I have known some evil persons, however. I think my ex-wife may be as rich as I am, and she is evil. I know some other evil rich people and I know some evil poor people.
I have many liberal friends, most of whom are at least mildly rich if not hugely rich. Not a one of them has expressed the idea that rich people are evil because they are rich.
Liberals usually think that people (including themselves) are rich at least substantially due to luck, rather than "deserving" it. Liberals usually think that people who are totally selfish are sort-of evil. Liberals think that people who want to keep all their wealth to themselves and their family are sort-of evil. Liberals think that people who lie, cheat and steal to get their wealth are evil.
Let's talk about wine instead of talking about evil.
"Dear Liberals: Remember how you say rich people are all evil? Trust me, these people help more individuals than all Democrats combined."
--Nice comment from "Anonymous".
Has nothing to do with the story, the author didn't have the guts to sign his name to his little sniping job and, although many rich folks do great kindnesses, nothing seems to stop the army of rich AND powerful folks who seem hell bent on their stated goal of destroying the working middle class.
Lastly, you have no data to back your claim.
Why not instead sign your name and just say you hate liberals, but please, do it somewhere else instead of ruining a wonderful story.
You're clearly not one of those kindhearted rich people or you would have just kept your big mouth shut and enjoyed the good news.
What a great story; I love it! I also love the irony in how conservatives claim "liberals think rich people are evil," while also constantly calling liberals "limousine driving elitists." D*mned if we do, d*mned if we don't, huh?
What a random act of kindness. May it be paid back 7 fold.
If you can afford to give out that kind of charity, chances are, you don't need anything back.....
Nonetheless, this is a pretty awesome deed.....
Payback isn't necessarily dollars.
Not enough things like this still happen in our society. To the anonymous couple "Thanks for renewing my faith in humanity with you generosity.
I think they happen more than you think, you just do hear about them because it's not 'news' (meaning someone it's not sensational).
Hey,
I have a 1972 Gremlin for sale cheap!
Way to get the IRS's attention, guys.
Then he got an invoice with 60 days dating on it to pay the money back...HEY it's 60 DAYS, comon'!! lol
NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE THEY KNOW WHEN SOMEONE IS REALLY TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING,,,MAY GOD BLESS THEM THAT GAVE AND BLESS HIM VERY GOOD STORY TO BEGIN THE WEEK WITH,,,,,,BUY WHATEVER THAT IS GOING TO GET YOU BACK AND FORTH TO WORK AND ELSEWHERE
why are you YELLING???
LMAO, TEX!!!!!!
I bet the IRS considers that earned income (a tip), and not a gift.
Sounds like a gift, not a tip. It makes a difference. A $5000 gift would not be taxable to either party. A tip is taxable as ordinary income, as well as engendering a payroll tax obligation.
Actually, I thought any gift under $10,000 was exempt from taxation by the IRS.
soup and wine for $26.95???
Yeah, you got a problem with that? Where do you eat? McDonald's?
No. Precisely why I said what I said
If he received it as a tip it is subject to taxes. If they gave as a gift will not be taxed.
It was a gift of $5,000. They gave him a valuable tip: "Go buy yourself a car."
This definetly should put a smile on everyones face!
So, this wasn't really a tip, but a gift.
Bottom line, this was a gift/tip that was not asked for, but, was given because they liked the individual and knew that he was having a hard time. I wish more people were like that. It doesn't have to be thousands of dollars, just extra to be nice. You critical people need to get a life, and think with your heart.
hmm...they must have fixed the typo..it just goes to show they are generous people in this world.
OMG what a blessing that was. May God continue to bless that lovely couple.
Behold: the tax man cometh!
USDebtClockDOTorg isn't going away...
Rubar DID NOT wait their table on this day. It was a gift. No taxes. Reading comprehension 101, people.
Wonderful gesture on their part, and he clearly made an impression on them also. People do not part with their money easily so clearly he held a special place in their hearts. Good luck Greg!
Are they hiring?
The donors know that he has to declare the tip on his income tax, don't they?
It looks like he made sure it was a gift and not connected with any service as the article states The gift – not a tip since it was not attached to a bill, it looks like the person thought about this in order to maximize the gift and it is nice they wanted to keep a low profile.
So many today are shouting from the rooftops, look at me, look what I donated or did...too many stories of the devil's disciples that walk among us, what a blessing to be reminded of every day angels as well!
its all about folk, being folk. COOOOOL!
What a nice thing to do. Those people will be blessed many times over. It's nice that they did not want to have their faces and names published. That shows they did this because they are truly "giving" people.
Great story! This reminds me of another couple in Atlanta that left their waiter a $2500.00 tip. They knew he was having financial troubles while attending college. They left the tip out of kindness and to assist him. There are people that really do care for others. Apparently in both cases, these waiters had developed a relationship with these couples and obviously had shared personal information about themselves. I'm sure these people would not leave such large tips or gifts of that size if the waiters had been butt-holes and not delivered good service all of the time or most of the time. BUT, you never really know. (o:
i bet this isn't the first time for those do-gooders.
I think that was pretty sweet of the couple to give the waiter that gift of $5,000. D'Amicos must be a pretty good restaurant.
Great story, too bad it now is in the news.... The IRS now knows...
There's as much a story in the Comments as there is in the article. Headline: "Chronicle Commentors Run Amok Trashing One Another's Politics On Any Pretext". I am active in politics myself, and I know what a full-contact sport it is. But come on, guys, have some common sense and leave the politics out of this. Dear Chronicle: How about cleaning up the comment string here? Clearly many of the comments are out of line and not germane to the story.
great, thats all we need now are a bunch of waiters expecting big tips from everyone!