My dear wife, Carrie, and I were fortunate to be in Huntington, WV over the long Labor Day weekend. We took in a Marshall Thundering Herd football game. The Joan C. Edwards Stadium a.k.a “The Joan” was packed. Only the third sellout in school history. That sounds a bit hard to fathom, given the history of the football program. Anyway, the official attendance was 38,791 or something like that. Five years ago, Carrie and I were there when they hosted the West Virginia Mountaineers. Talk about crazy. In a stadium that holds 38,000 and some change, the nearly 42,000 that packed the place that night was a claustrophobic nightmare.
The good thing is The Herd won the game this weekend. The best thing is they beat the Purdue Boilermakers. It was the first time a Big Ten team had ever come calling to Huntington. I doubt one makes it back. In the past, Marshall had played five road games against Big Ten teams and lost them all. One of those was a visit to West Lafayette in 2012 to play PU. Carrie and I were there that day. The Herd lost 51 to 41. Sunday the Herd won 41 to 31.
We had a marvelous time.
Changing the subject…I gave a tip to a waiter in a Barboursville, WV eatery and it was an unreasonable tip. What I should have done with the receipt after I settled up was write on it.
Tip #1…this is the money I am leaving you. I hope you are a Marshall student. You will need another job some day.
Tip # 2…learn your cheeses. When I ask if you can put a piece of cheddar on my hamburger, don’t look at me like you think all cheese comes from a wrapper.
Tip# 3…when a lady says a baked potato with sour cream on the side, do not…I mean do not…I mean don’t ever bring her a heaping mound of fries less than two hours before kickoff cos it is too late by then to bring on a foil wrapped spud.
Tip # 4…make sure the shirt you are wearing doesn’t have a fabric soften sheet hanging out above your elbow. I appreciate your desire for comfort and I am glad you wash your clothes.
Bottom line…I felt sorry for the young man. I told him thank you. I smiled at him. I left him a monetary tip that I am quite certain he enjoyed and thought he earned with his hard work. After all, we know the boy doesn’t have a memory.
That same night my dear Carrie and I were watching “We Are Marshall” (after watching the real Marshall) in our hotel room. There was a knock on the door. The pizza guy was there delivering the goods…and I mean goods. He looked at me and was very apologetic that it took so long for him to get there. I looked at him and said, “You made it didn’t you!” He smiled. I handed him some cash. He looked at the amount and offered my change in a hurry. I told him to keep it and have a good night. What I didn’t tell him was that he picked up my confidence in the twenty-something crowd just a little bit. I gave him his tip because he was gracious and courteous and just plain nice and I didn’t have to feel sorry for him.
Look, I am blessed that I can pass on a good tip. Carrie and I don’t eat out that much. For us it is just as important that someone carried it out of the kitchen and to the table and offers to fill my tea glass without me having to open the ice box and get it out myself. That is worth something. That and I just don’t mind helping someone out with a little extra coin.
I know this is not stuff one should talk about, and know that I am not bragging, I’m just explaining.
It was two Octobers ago. Carrie, our son Jarrett, and I were enjoying fall break in North Carolina. I called the pizza place for an order. I paid with a credit card and included my tip up front. When the young lady brought my pie, she looked beat. I dug a little deeper and handed her some cash, took the pizza, and headed up the stairs of the house we were renting. I was upstairs for a few minutes and heard a knock on that same downstairs door. “Sir”, she said, “You already paid for your tip and your pizza.” I looked at her and told she was right. She started to hand me back the cash. I looked at her and told her that was the second half of her tip. She nearly cried. She started telling me about how she needed the money…and…I just told her thank you and to have a nice evening. She told me she was going to do. I’m just glad I was able to be there.
Speaking the tipping rights.
Danny Johnson