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If you’ve ever worked in the service industry, particularly as a server, you realize that life is not always going to be the easiest. Some days, you are just going to be stressed out but then again, those are the days that sometimes see the best results.

Nobody knows this better than a waitress from Cranston, Rhode Island. Although she was having a difficult day serving tables, she was able to walk out of the restaurant with a tip bigger than any she had ever received before.

Photo: flickr/Alpha

As a single mother, Jennifer Vernancio is no stranger to trying to get by. She works hard at The Big Cheese & Pub, where she has been serving food as a waitress for three years. She does so to care for herself and her two children.

Jennifer was on the schedule for opening at 11 AM one day, but she was having a difficult time getting to work. Her three-year-old needed a babysitter and she had to wait for her 16-year-old daughter to get home from school because no one else was available.

That started her day on a sour note, but she spoke to WJAR, saying how the first table started to turn things around. In her words, it was a “super, super nice gentleman and his wife” and we know how much of a difference that can make.

Photo: flickr/Nenad Stojkovic

As it turns out, they made a bigger difference than she could have ever expected. They ordered sandwiches but when they paid their bill, she couldn’t believe what she saw on the receipt.

As he left the restaurant, he looked over his shoulder and told her to have a nice day. That is when she went over to the check to pick it up and she had no idea.

In her words: “They left me an $810 tip. I’m like, are you kidding? This can’t be. I brought it to my manager and at first I’m like, ‘This can’t be.’ She’s like, ‘Oh no, that’s it.'”

Photo: flickr/Marco Verch Professional Photographer

The manager of the restaurant, Kim Tierny, spoke with the news outlet about how Jennifer walked over to her and was so taken back. At first, Jennifer was excited that she had a $600 tip but when Kim looked closer, she was able to give her the good news that it was actually an $800 tip!

Jennifer was then overcome, simply saying “I’m going to pass out.”

Although Jennifer has worked in the restaurant industry for some two decades, she never saw a tip coming her way that was anything in comparison. She didn’t even get an opportunity to find out who the couple was, but she will never forget them and their act of kindness that really turned her day around.

Photo: flickr/Marco Verch Professional Photographer

She was able to use the generosity of those patrons to buy her daughter some new shoes and to get her son a toy police truck. She’s also going to be paying some bills with the money.

In the end, Jennifer said: “To the gentleman and his wife that left that generous tip, I just want to say thank you so much. It meant a lot. The money is very much appreciated. It helps out no matter what. However, the kindness behind it and making my day from going a little hectic to that kind of a tip made me smile the rest of the day.”