A dying wish, a humongous tip

You might’ve heard about the server in Kentucky who was tipped $500 a few weeks ago on a lunch tab consisting of a single pizza. What might've slipped past was the $500 gratuity left last weekend for a dish of penne, the latest installment of what the big tipper has envisioned as a weekly event.

That’s because we’re not talking about some eccentric millionaire here. The cash is being left by Seth Collins, who’s paying tribute to his late brother, Aaron. After his death in mid-July, the Collins family found a request on Aaron’s computer that a server be left a $500 tip on a nominal order, like “on a fucking pizza.” Problem was, they didn’t have $500 to give away that casually.

So, in Age of the Internet fashion, the family built a website—Aaron’s Wish—and asked for donations. When they hit the $500 mark, Seth taped the presentation of a tip in that amount and posted the video on YouTube, where it snagged the sort of viewership that’s usually reserved for skateboarding dogs.

Now the donations are flowing more readily. A counter on the website says more than $51,000 has been pledged, or enough to tip more $500 to more than 100 waiters or waitresses.

So if you’re waiting tables in Kentucky, don’t be surprised if a customer leaves far more than 20%.