Unfortunately, coronavirus has had a massive impact on every industry, most notably restaurants and cafes. Most of them had to close down due to the lack of customers, while others are barely surviving on delivery. Thankfully, some people are working to change this, like one man in Naples, Flordia…
Barely Surviving
Ross Edlund, the owner of the Skillets restaurant chain in Naples, is still not sure who left a $10,000 tip. How can that possibly be, you ask? Well, Edlund thinks his name is Bob or Bill; he’s a man who likes to bring his laptop to Skillets, eating on the patio if the weather is sunny is pleasant. “We don’t know who he was yet. I’m trying to figure it out. It’s funny because we have regulars who have been coming in forever, and they’re our friends but we don’t always know their names. We know their faces, their orders, their favorite tables, but we don’t know exactly who they are,” Edlund said.
Apparently, the mystery diner left the huge tip just before the dining room closed for a coronavirus lockdown. Just then, the good samaritan came up to the Skillets manager in The Pavilion on Vanderbilt Beach Road and gave him a stack of cash worth $10,000! That day, before the nine dining rooms were forced to close, the 20 staff members split the enormous tip, getting $500 each.
Unfortunately, it was their last tip for a while. Edlund said that over 90% of his staff can’t work right now due to the coronavirus pandemic. Thankfully, the $10,000 tip is not the only nice act customers presented the stuff and owner during hard times. Employees said that they got a lot of generous tips in the days leading up to the close, especially on delivery and take-outs.
Looking Out For His Employees
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other customers stepping up. Edlund mentioned another regular who’s been visiting the store near the corner of Pine Ridge and Airport-Pulling roads since 1995. They handed the owner a mystery envelope that had “Do not open unless you close” written on it. As some spots closed, he decided to check out the envelope. It had $150 cash inside, which he also distributed.
Edlund needed to close with a new 5-month-old Venice store because business is simply not working out right now. The other eight locations were left to be a take-out and delivery service, but they are not doing particularly well. “To-go was only about 5% of our sales before all this,” Edlund said, mentioning how things changed. “I look at the McDonald’s next door and cars are lined up around the block because that’s what they do. That’s what they’re built for. Breakfast here is an experience. It’s about getting out of the house and letting someone else take care of you. We can’t offer that now, but we’re trying to do the best we can.”
However, through it all, Edlund will not give up.“We’re taking it day by day,” he said. “We’re making sure no one loses their health benefits. We’re counseling our staff on how to apply for unemployment.” He also acknowledges the $2 trillion coronavirus bailout bill including more workers in small businesses.
“These people deserve it,” Edlund finished by saying. “It shouldn’t all go to the top. It should go to people who make life happen on a day-to-day basis. They are the hardest hit. They need this money the most.”
Sources: Naples Daily News