'Be someone else's blessing': IHOP waitress receives $1,200 tip for the holidays

Waitress hand holding tray money change giving back to customers in cafe.

PATERSON, N.J. – A group of friends got together Sunday in Paterson to eat, enjoy one another’s company and fill the pocket of one lucky waitress.

Local activist Zellie Thomas and nearly a dozen friends finished eating at an IHOP restaurant in the city and were about to leave, but not before giving a $1,200 tip.

“She was still looking at it as we was paying the bill. We gave her the money and she was starting to count, like, ‘Wait, wait: You guys gave me too much money,' ” Thomas said. “ ‘You were supposed to give me this amount.’ And we were like, ‘No, that’s all for you. That’s your tip.’ ”

“Oh, my God, you’re going to make me cry,” the employee said in a video, covering her face while holding the tip. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”