How Dare— I Mean, Thank You?

My fast food job is right by a beach that hosts festivals all the time. One day, after some problems with homeless people abusing the bathroom, we are instructed to only let customers who bought something use it. (I don’t always enforce it for kids, pregnant women, etc.)

One day, the biggest festival of the year is happening, and we are all scrambling to get ready for the rush when the festival ends. (The line out the door often lasts until 2:00 am.) At around 9:00 pm, a man who looks surprisingly like Elton John comes in and asks to use the restroom.

Me: “Of course, although you do need to purchase something first.”

I recommend our cheapest item (under a dollar). He gets super pissed but does eventually buy it.

Probably fifteen minutes later, the man walks up and slaps a $100 dollar bill onto the counter.

Man: “This is for the rest of the customers tonight to use the bathroom. You’re a bad person and should feel bad.”

Then, he walked out the door.

My manager told me that I could take the money as a tip, but I decided to split it with the rest of the crew. We did end up letting most people use the bathroom without paying simply because of how busy that night was.