Man Trying To Visit All 50 States Leaving $500 Tips Inspired By Late Brother’s Last Request

Last summer we learned about one man’s dying wish: That his family go out and tip a restaurant server $500, as stipulated in his will. His family managed to complete that wish, and now his brother has decided to take that request one step further — he’s now trying to leave $500 tips in all 50 states.

As stated in 30-year-old Aaron’s will at the time of his death: “Third, leave an awesome tip (and I don’t mean 25%. I mean $500 on a f***ing pizza) for a waiter or waitress.”

The family set up a donation page and raked in over $60,000 all told, but it seems those random acts of kindness are far from over. His brother Seth tells NPR’s Weekend Edition that now he’s got all 50 states in his sights, and has been touring the country making servers’ days since then.

“It only seemed fair once I started thinking about that to try to give back to as many places as I could,” he explains, adding that his brother had always been a generous tipper.

Of course what we all want to know is — how are waiters and waitresses reacting to these huge tips?

“Different people, I think, react to it in their own way. Some people, when they shocked, sort of shut down,” he says. “It’s just they’re trying to bottle in that emotion so that they don’t start crying or something. And they let that out later.”

Once he hits all 50 states, he says he’ll probably just keep handing out whatever money the family raised. But he won’t be going overseas with the cash, as that would take money away from the servers.

“I really want all the money to be given to the waiters and waitresses rather than spending it on traveling to Ireland so that I can leave a 500 euro tip there.”

Keep your eyes peeled, food service industry workers. Seth could be coming for you with a big fat tip.

Random Acts Of Tipping [NPR]

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