365个英语简短小故事-157. Man Leaves $50K to Waitress

Whenever the other waitresses saw Matthew pulling up in his old car, they would tell Amber¹ that her “boyfriend” had arrived. They teased Amber about the day the elderly Matthew would propose to her.

“What are you going to tell him?” asked Chelsea. “If you say no, he might go home and drink himself to death. If you say yes, the shock might give him a heart attack.” Amber put up with her coworkers’ jokes.

Matthew continued to visit the Do-Drop-In regularly, but never proposed to Amber. The last time he ate breakfast there, he told her he was not feeling well. That's why he didn't finish the pancakes, he said. And he had only one refill of coffee. For the first time ever, he left Amber a two-dollar tip. She tried to return one dollar, figuring that he had made a mistake. He said no, she had earned that second dollar. She thanked him.

In his will, Matthew left a dollar each to the Republican and Democratic parties; the rest of his money, $50,000, he left to Amber. He noted² in his will that Amber’s friendly smile was the “syrup on my pancakes.” Amber’s coworkers were happy for her, at first.

But later, when she hadn’t offered to share her money with them, some of them got angry. “You’re supposed to share the tips,” said Chelsea. “We’ve always pooled all the tips for each shift, and then distributed the total amount equally. This $50,000 was just an extra-large tip from a regular customer, and she should share it with the rest of the breakfast crew.”

 

1 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。