‘I hope you enjoyed all my tip money': Brewtender uses a thrifty gift card worth $0.75 to get payback on a tip-stealing coworker

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 10, 2024 9:00 AM EDT

Do you ever wish you could take karma into your own hands? Unfortunately, life doesn't always give us opportunities to play with our tormentors, but for the brewery bartender in our next story, the karmic cookie crumbled in his favor after he caught a coworker red-handed stealing his tips.

There are a few things that are sacred behind the bar: customer banter, keeping the beer taps clean, and watching the tip jar fill up throughout the night. The guy in our next story, a hobbyist brewtender who tended the bar of his local brewery a few nights a week, caught a coworker desecrating one of the holiest of service industry totems–he caught him stealing from the tip jar. 

The thief's reasoning? Well apparently the brewtender he was stealing from 'didn't need the money', so he was just relieving him of the burden of extra pocket change. Thanks, bud! Scroll onward to see how 0.75 cents of karma played out through the mischievous hoodwinking of a beer-loving bartender. 

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  • 01
    "When he tried to pay the manager with his gift card, he was about $74.25 short. And his date walked out and he had to call his dad to pay his bill"
    via canva
  • 02
    Posted by u/TitansFrontRow I gave a nice gift card to the former colleague that stole my tips. I work weekends at a local brewery. I am fortunate that I do not need the money, but it gives me something to do because my wife works a ton of
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 03
    hours in the medical world, and I find it to be a good way to engage with people while also being "forced" to be out and about instead of sitting at home bored. I made the mistake of communicating that this was not a "necessity" job for me to a coworker (L). L got distant then, and where we
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 04
    chatted a lot prior, L started being... weird. No big deal, I'm not here for L. Well, soon after that I had a large group come in, and L took 1 of 3 one hundred dollar bills off of the table and pocketed it that was meant as a tip for me (this group stayed all day to watch a tournament- they were there from 8am-10pm.) I did
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 05
    confront him, and he denied it- he swore up and down he would never do that- but he was the only one in the party room other than me. It wasn't worth raising a stink because this guy doesn't do well financially
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 06
    and I know he struggles to pay his rent. I maintained being cordial with L, to the point that he must have thought we were back to how it used to be, but I just didn't really give a
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 07
    Fast forward to the beginning of last month, and L lets everybody know he is going and working at a place on the tourist strip. His last day came that I was working with him (which happened to be a Saturday),
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 08
    and I overheard him admit to another employee not only that he took the hundred, but that he regularly took his bus fare from my tables if they tipped cash. And he
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 09
    was laughing it off because I didn't need it. I was miffed. The other employee came and told me that he said that, which was cool, but I said not to worry about it and I appreciated her telling me.
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 10
    Here's the revenge: First, its important to know that the rule at the brewery is that all servers have to have a manager approve all final bills and cash out all former employees to combat internal theft.
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 11
    Second, I only work weekends, but the brewery planned a nice little going away "cheers" for L on his final day, which was a Monday. The day after I heard L's confession to stealing from me, I had a short shift, I bought a gift card from the
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 12
    brewery. They are supposed to be no less than $10, but I rang one for 75 cents. I then wrote "75" on a sticky note, and stuck it to the gift card, which I put in a dollar store "Good luck!" greeting card. I didn't sign it.
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 13
    The managers already had a nice little gift bag for L in their office, and I stuck my card, with the gift card, on top of that gift bag and it just said L's name on the envelope of the card.
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 14
    I had the next weekend off, which is when L came in with a date. As it was told to me, L and his girlfriend both ate and had a couple of beers, and when he tried to pay the manager with his gift card, he was about $74.25 short. And his date walked out and L had to call his dad to pay his bill. I hope you enjoyed all my tip money, L.
    via TitansFrontRow
  • 15
    LompocianLady . 46 min. ago Petty. Oh, so very petty. Pettiness personified. Well done.
    via LompocianLady
  • 16
    GeneralNuke Em. 33 min. ago Great one. Though I wish that it had cost more since he stole from you much more....
    via GeneralNukeEm
  • 17
    Archangel4500000 1 hr. ago Man you were a lot nicer to someone stealing from you than I ever would have been. I think someone would have spilled a bunch of glasses onto the kitchen floor, then he would have "fallen" face first into them. Ferengi rule of Acquisition #48 "The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife."
    via Archangel4500000
  • 18
    akhoneygirl 1 hr. ago What fun!!!! Too bad you were not there to see it! Hahaha! 24 Reply Share Casualpasserbyer · 59 min. ago Genius. You gave me a great idea, thank you!
    via akhoneygirl
  • 19
    PinSufficient5748 2 min. ago he went to use a gift card without checking the balance first?! Sounds about right for someone who steals from their coworker
    via PinSufficient5748
  • 20
    Candid Calamity 1 min. ago the karmic scales did not 'tip' in his favor
    via Candid_Calamity

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deserved beer tips deserves wage theft work stories stealing gift card revenge work beertender working stealing tips petty bartender brewtender brewery payback coworker karma thief
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