Teens give waiter terrible tip, but they paid him back with this beautiful letter.

There are plenty of exposed waiter etiquette faux pas that are posted online. Like this pretty major restaurant receipt fiasco, which is apparently a sore spot for both customers and waiters alike.

If you ask me, there's no reason to not tip a waiter who's satisfactorily providing you with service.

In fact, is there anything less attractive than someone who is mean to a waiter? It just deflates your respect for them, doesn't it?

It could also be pretty deflating to an employee's sense of self worth and, you know, monetary worth. Nearly all waiters in the US survive off of tips, so if you're not providing the correct amount of gratuity, you're also hurting their income.

Which is what this awesome waiter unfortunately experienced when they served a group of four teenagers who were going out to eat all by themselves for the first time.

They were confused about how much to tip the waiter and left not knowing just how little they paid them for their efforts. 

But someone must've raised these little peeps with some integrity, because once they got home and learned the correct amount they should've tipped their server, they immediately felt guilty and made it right. 

They marched back to the restaurant with this letter. 

First they lauded the waiter for their exemplary service and making sure they had an amazing night. Then, they get down to brass tacks: their awful money mess up. 

That's right, they returned to make sure they paid their waiter the correct amount and apologized profusely. 

A group of teenagers showed more class and consideration than most adults. The gesture was unlike any the waiter had seen before. So they posted the letters to imgur with the following message:

"Nothing more frustrating than when I get little to nothing for a tip and the customer is smiling and thanking me profusely as they exit. These kids came back another day and left this for me at the front desk, with $18 and some change. I've been serving a long time, and nothing like this has ever happened to me, or anyone. I don't know how you learned or educated yourself on tipping, but I really appreciate the effort and kindness. I hope your Homecoming was fantastic!"

What's truly remarkable is that the teens educated themselves on the right amount to tip, a concept many young people are apparently unfamiliar with. One server on Reddit even started a thread asking why teens are often poor tippers.

One user wrote: 

"I'd say it's a combination of factors. Teenagers are unlikely to have a substantial of their own to begin with and therefore have less available money to tip you. Teenagers may not be aware of when to tip (less likely) and how much to tip (more likely) as their parents have handled it. Teenagers don't account for tipping when they budget how much money they have available."

For a lot of people, it was about class and understanding social cues:

"I must be the odd man out here. When I was young (90s) I remember hanging out a lot at coffee shops, Dennys and other more local places, and we'd sit there for 4 hours with coffee. Yes, we were a pain in the ass, but if I only ordered coffee and we lingered, I would always tip a buck extra per refill, so for example I'd spend (a coffee was $1.49?) about $7. Not great, but the restaurant was almost empty anyway, so at least i wasn't taking up valuable table space."

"I think teenagers learn about tipping from their parents, and I think that being a "bad" customer actually taught me to tip even better than they do. I felt like they weren't making much money during their slow shift, and putting up with us, and they were giving decent service, so I felt obligated to tip them even better because they weren't making money on us like they would with a "good" table, who left in 90 minutes. I was broke as hell but I could afford $10 for a night out."

While others think it's just a generalization: "Not all teens are like that, first of all. Ever since I could eat at restaurants on my own I've always tipped, even if it was c****y pocket change. Second, maybe they just don't understand how the system works yet? Younger teens are barely testing the waters of their new freedoms, and are still learning the non-written "rules" of doing things yourself. Cut them slack, they probably don't get it quite yet and will when someone points it out."

It's a shame that not all customers are as forthright as these young'uns, and as a waiter, calling customers out for crummy tips is a tricky situation. 

This article was originally published on November 29, 2019. It has since been updated.