We’ve all heard the old adage “never judge a book by its cover,” but the truth is we’re constantly making judgments about people and things around us. Most of the time it’s without even realizing it, just an automatic thing. You see someone wearing certain clothes or who looks a certain way and assume you know something about them. Rosalynd Harris thought she knew all about the three men who were seated in her section of the restaurant that afternoon just by the hats they were wearing. She would soon learn that she couldn’t be more wrong.
A Dancer’s Dream
Pinterest Rosalynd’s first love has always been dancing. She’s a 25-year-old college grad and professional dancer, but since it isn’t always enough to pay the bills she also has a day job working as a waitress at the popular Washington, D.C. restaurant and bookstore Busboys and Poets.
A Liberal Crowd
Wikipedia The name Busboys and Poets refers to African American poet Langston Hughes, who himself worked as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel in the 1920s, prior to gaining recognition as a poet. The restaurant is well known in the D.C. area as catering to a more Liberal minded crowd.
Inspiring Change
Facebook On their website, Busboys and Poets is described as “a community where racial and cultural connections are consciously uplifted…a place to take a deliberate pause and feed your mind, body, and soul…a space for art, culture, and politics to intentionally collide…we believe that by creating such a space we can inspire social change and begin to transform our community and the world.”
From Out Of Town
Facebook Jason White is a dentist from Lubbock, Texas. He and a group of his friends were in town to attend the inauguration of President Donald Trump. They had been sightseeing around the nation’s capital for a couple days following the inauguration and decided to stop into Busboys and Poets for something to eat.
Put It Away
Facebook When Jason looked around at the African American art and images covering the walls of the restaurant, he told his friend that he might want to remove his red “Make America Great Again” cap. It was a dead giveaway that the three conservative Republicans stuck out in a big way.
Not A Typical Customer
Fox 5 DC They were soon seated in Rosalynd’s section. Jason said that even though the red hat was tucked away at this point, he could tell that she knew that they weren’t the restaurant’s usual type of customer. He wondered what type of dining experience they were about to have.
Assumptions Are Made
Fox 5 DC Rosalynd admits that Jason was right. She’d immediately assumed that they were in town for the inauguration. “I could tell they were from the south because they had their cowboy hats on and I was like “‘Oh, you’re not from the city,’” she said in an interview with a local news station.
We Were In The Same Boat
Facebook “I know I had a perception of the place where I felt uncomfortable,” Jason said in an interview with WUSA9 news. “And she had kind of a perception that she was about to serve Trump supporters and we were just in the same boat together,” he said with a chuckle.
She Was Determined
Fox 5 DC Rosalynd had attended the Women’s March a couple days before, however, and she and the entire cafe was still abuzz with the positive energy it had generated. She was determined to give the trio the same cheery service that she provides to all of her customers, no matter their political differences.
A Pleasant Experience
Facebook The three confirmed her suspicions that they were indeed from out of town and were there to attend the inauguration. Jason told her that he was a dentist and complemented Rosalynd on her beautiful smile. All in all, Rosalynd said it was a pleasant experience. Jason must have agreed because he had a big surprise in store for her.
A Big Surprise
Fox 5 DC The men had already left when Rosalynd went to pick up the credit card receipt from the table. She was shocked to see that Jason had left her a $450 tip on the $72.60 bill. In addition to the more than 600% tip, he also left a heartwarming note.
Share The Kindness
Fox 5 DC The note Jason had written on the receipt 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!”
An Overwhelming Weekend
Facebook Jason said that the tip, a nod to the 45th president, 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. The American spirit was real and it was real with everybody, whether you were you a Trump supporter or you were there to be a part of the Women’s rally.”
It’s Our Duty
Fox 5 DC “On Saturday, I was just looking for a really cool place to eat lunch before we took off to Reagan National to fly home. So we ended up at Busboys and Poets, which was an unbelievable place,” Jason said in an interview. “We all have the American spirit, and it’s really our duty to make America great ourselves.”
It Was Overwhelming
Fox 5 DC Rosalynd said that Jason’s words alone were enough to overwhelm her. “You automatically assume if someone supports Trump that they have ideas about you,” she said, “but [the customer was] more embracing than even some of my more liberal friends, and there was a real authenticity in our exchange.”
She Was Humbled
Fox 5 DC “I’m still, in a way, not necessarily shocked but just sort of humbled. I ended up messing up someone’s order after,” Rosalynd told a reporter laughing, “because I didn’t get any time to kind of like, process it.” She said that his words were a reminder not to make assumptions.
It Was Touching
Fox 5 DC “The simple fact that he didn’t want to create a scene but he wanted me to know that this was a great experience and this is what he hopes for people in general, it was very touching and amazing in general and it makes me want to go about my interactions with that kind of energy more often,” she said.
A Huge Weight Lifted
Fox 5 DC The money came at the perfect time for Rosalynd. She was preparing to move to a new apartment and was worried about having enough money to pay upfront costs. So much so, that she had scheduled herself for extra shifts. She said that the extra money was “a huge weight off my shoulders.”
Reshaping Perspectives
Fox 5 DC More than just the money, Rosalynd said that the experience has helped change her point of view. “This has definitely reshaped my perspective. Republican, Democrat, liberal are all subcategories to what we are experiencing,” she said. “We came together and had an encounter that was beautiful and has created such an interesting response for what we may need to do as a country.”
We Have More In Common
Facebook Jason said that he hoped to show Rosalynd that they had more in common than she thought. “As I sat there, I thought about the entire weekend and I thought ‘I don’t know her, she doesn’t know me, but if most Americans have a preconceived perception about people then we’re never going to get better,’” he said.