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It's obviously not the most important thing, but on the day of the Boston Marathon bombings, some restaurants ended up with a lot of unpaid bills. In all the terror and confusion, some diners were forced to leave without paying for their meals. Again, this was not the most important thing at the time -- and restaurateurs know that. Diners were fleeing for their lives, after all. But that's why some restaurant owners have been so surprised and appreciative when customers have settled their forgotten bills.
Tony Castagnozzi of Rattlesnake Bar and Grill estimates he ended up with about $3,000 in unpaid bills on April 15. Amazingly, about $1,200 of that has been recouped thanks to diners who went out of their way to pay their bills after all. And these aren't all local diners, either. Some of the honest customers came from as far away as Florida, Virginia, and Colorado. "I was speechless ... You see there are so many good people out there," Castagnozzi says. "It makes you feel good."
Not only did these customers pay their bills, they also insisted on tipping their servers. Imagine -- most waitstaff that day hardly got paid that day. And of course they went home grateful to have their lives and their limbs ... but that's got to bite. I'm glad diners have been that thoughtful.
It's another example of how a horrifying situation brought out the best in some people. You have two people who acted out of hatred and shattered lives. But then you have so many more people who refused to let hatred win the day. Their answer to the most terrifying day of their lives was to reach out and send gratitude to the restaurants that fed them. It's a small thing, but it's what keeps us all going.
Would you have remembered to pay your bill eventually if you had been a diner near the Boston bombings?
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