Acts of Kindness
Last minute walk-in customer leaves $5,800 tip for $27 haircut, stylist cries when she reads receipt
With 15 minutes left in her shift she squeezed the man in for a cut. Little did she know how drastically the decision would impact her.
Irene Markianou
05.21.20

The pandemic has had many negative effects on global societies so far, with the impact on the health of the global population being the most important, of course, but there are other side effects, too.

Unsplash/ Evan Wise
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Unsplash/ Evan Wise

The safety measures and social distancing that have been imposed have forced numerous businesses to shut down- at least temporarily- while others that remained open saw their shops empty every day, making it difficult for the operations to be profitable during this time.

With numbers of confirmed cases and deaths still being high, some states have started easing the measures and allowing businesses to reopen gradually. This has relieved business owners, who are now trying to keep their operations afloat in order to provide for their families and make sure their staff or part of it won’t need to be fired.

Unsplash/ Alwin Kroon
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Unsplash/ Alwin Kroon

Some of those operations are barbershops.

People have been missing out on their regular haircuts for far too long and they just couldn’t wait for their favorite barbers to get back to work.

Many of them tried to cut their hair themselves or asked family members to do it, but the results were often far from the desired ones.

Unsplash/ Megan Bagshaw
Source:
Unsplash/ Megan Bagshaw

One of the barbershops that reopened a few days ago was Floyd’s 99 Barbershop in Denver. A hairstylist in that shop, Ilisia Novotny, and her coworkers were in for the biggest surprise last week, when a customer walked in their shop last minute.

It seems that at the end of a busy day, an anonymous customer walked in the barbershop asking if they could squeeze him in the schedule.

Facebook
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Facebook

“I had 15 minutes left in my shift, and he walked up and asked if I could squeeze him in,” Novotny told Good Morning America. “I know how many people are desperate for a haircut right now so I didn’t mind.”

The man then received a haircut, while chatting with Novotny about how business had been affected by the crisis and how she and her coworkers had found themselves in a difficult position. They then went on to talk about various subjects, until it was time for the man to leave.

When the anonymous man got to the exit, he said something that sounded confusing to Novotny. “Just so you know,” he said, “the tip is not a mistake.”

Floyd's Barbershop via Good Morning America
Source:
Floyd's Barbershop via Good Morning America

At the time, the woman didn’t really grasp what he meant, but moments later, she realized he had left a sizeable tip for her on his $27 bill. The tip amounted to $2,500 and the woman burst into tears.

“I’m a single mother,” she said. “It’s been rough the last few months not knowing what’s going to happen, not knowing when we might reopen so I could go back to work.”

The woman even admitted that her son had asked her how they were going to pay the bills if she didn’t return to work soon. Well, apparently, now they can pay their bills and more.

Unsplash/ Sam Dan Truong
Source:
Unsplash/ Sam Dan Truong

But Novotny was not the only lucky staff member at this barbershop. The mysterious man handed $500 to the receptionist, while he also left $1,000 for the general manager. As for the 18 remaining employees, they got $100 each!

What a day this was for Floyd’s 99 Barbershop! One thing is for sure, they will never forget that man and they will keep him in their prayers!

You can watch the details of the heartwarming story in the video below.

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