Server surprised with $500 tip

A server at the Owl Cafe in Hayden experienced an extraordinary moment of kindness on Sunday.

Customers Annie Parker has served every weekend for the past year surprised her with a $500 tip written on a credit card receipt left discreetly upside down on the table.

“I was completely taken aback,” said Parker, who has worked at the diner for more than four years.

This gift came just before North Idaho bars and restaurants were ordered to shut down for two weeks because of COVID-19. With two teenagers at home, Parker, of Post Falls, can now rest a little easier being out of work for the next couple weeks.

“That $500 tip is going to take me a long way because I make $4 an hour,” Parker said. “Unemployment for me is going to look different than it does for someone else.”