Anonymous Customer Leaves Over $5,000 Tip To Barbershop, A Surge Of Hope After Weeks Of Struggle Amidst Pandemic

• Life during the quarantine was really hard for Illsia Novotny being a single mother and jobless.
• So when the barbershop she works as a stylist reopened recently, she was happy to get back to work.
• But what made her very happy was when an anonymous customer left a big tip for her and for the rest of the employees in the shop.

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Illsia Novotny, a 32-year-old hair stylist at Floyd’s Barbershop in the University of Denver, was left crying after a walk-in customer left her with a huge amount of tip.

The stylist in Aurora, Colorado, has been in a struggle of keeping ends meet since the start of the lockdowns due to the coronavirus. Although her repeat customers have been sending cash online to help her, it was still difficult for her to pay for rent and utility bills.

Earlier this month, the barbershop reopened following strict guidelines to ensure safety and sanitation. So then finally, Illsia was able to return back to work.

Last week, during a busy Saturday shift, a man walked in and requested for a haircut. While Illsia was doing his hair, they talked casually about many things including baseball and the challenges she went through to survive the quarantine. After the haircut was done, the man settled the payment with the receptionist and told her a mysterious parting comment about something she never would have guessed.

“Just so you know, it’s not a mistake,” the man said before he left.

After the receptionist checked on the payment, she was shocked to see a big tip the customer left. She was teary-eyed when she told Illsia, the generous patron tipped her with $2,500, while he gave $500 to the receptionist, $1,000 to the general manager, and another $1,800 to be shared among the rest of the staff—all in all, that’s a total of $5,800 tip. 

“I cried. I’m a single mother. It’s been rough the last few months not knowing what’s going to happen, not knowing when we might reopen so I could go back to work,” Illsia told The Denver Post.

This heartwarming story has made national news and has surely inspired many people. 

“The support we’ve seen since being able to reopen some of our shops where regulations allow has been astounding. This is just one great story from one of our Denver shops,” the shop wrote on its Facebook page. “Thank you to our communities for supporting us during this time.”

Source: Good News Network