Server receives huge tip, uplifting message on receipt

WASHINGTON - A server at a Washington D.C. coffee shop and restaurant said she received a very generous tip and a heartwarming note after serving a group of customers in town for Donald Trump's inauguration.

The waitress, Rosalynd Harris, said Jason White, a dentist from west Texas, and two of his friends came into Busboys and Poets on 14th Street in Northwest D.C. on Monday afternoon. The dentist apparently liked Harris' smile because when they paid their lunch bill that came to $72.60, the customers left Harris a $450 tip - more than 600 percent of the bill.

In addition to the tip, White left Harris a message on the receipt that read:

"We may come from different cultures and may disagree on certain issues, but if everyone would share their smile and kindness like your beautiful smile, our country will come together as one people. Not race. Not gender. Just American. God Bless!"

Harris is a Prince George's County, Maryland-born college graduate and professional dancer. The 25-year-old said she attended the Women's March on Washington on the day after her anonymous tipster went to the inauguration.

"The simple fact that he didn't want to create a scene, but just wanted to let me know that this was a great experience and this is what he hopes for people in general, it was very touching," she said. "It's really amazing and it makes me want to go about my interactions with that kind of energy more often."

White told FOX 5 that his large tip was not planned.

"No, not at all," he said. "The entire weekend was overwhelming for me. On Friday for me, it was just a big patriotic American experience. On Saturday, for someone like myself that lives out here in west Texas where we really don't see the extreme disagreements as much, we respect each other so much, and I was just looking for a really cool place to eat lunch before we took off to Reagan National [Airport] to fly home. So we ended up at Busboys and Poets, which was an unbelievable place."

Watch our interview with the generous tipster:

White had a great experience during his visit to the nation's capital.

"The American spirit was real and it was real with everybody, whether you were you a Trump supporter or were you there to be a part of the Women's rally," White said.

He also added, "I was very proud of Washington D.C. and how they handled everything, and I was very proud of the fact that the notion there was going to be a lot of problems - really there wasn't much problems at all. I saw a lot of respect from everybody."

The dentist's gesture has touched a nerve among the customers at Busboys and Poets on Wednesday.

"I love that," said Daniel Osweiler. "I have to say that I agree with what they wrote on the ticket there. Rosalynd was my server today and her smile does definitely stand out."

Most of the people who heard about this story on social media heralded the bridge built here. But Jason Reynolds has a different view.

"I'm not going to applaud these guys for being decent," he said. "I just can't. I recognize the gesture and I commend them for extending themselves, but it's not necessary and it shouldn't have to be necessary for you to see me or anyone who is unlike you as just like you. Period."

However, the humbled waitress is very encouraged by this experience.

"We came together and had an encounter that was still beautiful and has created such an interesting response from everyone around that I think speaks volumes to what we may need to do as a country," she said.