Waitress Humiliated By Arrogant Woman Runs After her to Teach her a Lesson – Story of the Day

An arrogant woman bullies a waitress at a coffee shop, but the girl proves that she's the better person.

Katie Williams was working her way through school, she had to. Her father had passed away when she was just ten, leaving Katie's mom to raise three children alone. Mrs. Williams had done her best.

Money might be short, but there was always food on the table, and lots of love to spare. In her husband's absence, Mrs. Williams had strived to instill in their children the values he'd cherished: honesty, and hard work.

So when Katie was in her senior year in high school she'd taken a job at the local diner, despite her mother's objections. Katie felt that she could balance her academic work with her job, and the family needed the help.

Of course, it wasn't easy in the beginning. Katie had never worked before, and the diner had a high turn-over, mostly travelers passing through, eager for a cup of coffee and a bite to break the monotony of the journey.

Quite by chance, Katie encountered Frederika Lampert on her first day on the job, when she hardly knew the menu and was still finding her feet. Frederika was having a bad year, and that day was one of the worse yet, and Katie took the brunt of it.

Frederika was driving from Las Vegas to Los Angeles on Interstate 15. She was leaving Las Vegas in the wake of a bitter divorce, and even though she could have taken a plane to California, she decided to drive her husband's vintage Chevrolet Corvette.

Frederika hated the car, but her husband loved it, which was why she'd made sure she'd got the Chevrolet in the ruinous divorce settlement. Ruinous for Mr. Lampert, that is. Frederika and her lawyer had believed that if her heart was broken, his bank account should be too.

So Frederika was bitter, unhappy, and very irritable when she sat down at the diner in Barstow, Katie's hometown. Katie hurried over, smiling and so young and hopeful she shone in her pretty pink and white uniform, and everything about her irritated Frederika even more.

"Good afternoon, Ma'm!" Katie smiled, "And how may I help you?"

Frederika was angry at her life, and she ended up taking it out on Karie who was poor and vulnerable.

"You can start by giving me the menu!" Frederika snapped.

Katie blushed and quickly fetched Frederika a menu. She waited expectantly, pen in hand to take down the woman's order. Frederika deliberately perused the menu, taking her own sweet time.

Then she snapped: "Get me a cup of coffee, and apple pie -- if it's any good!"

Katie smiled. "It's really good, Ma'am! Would you like that with whipped cream or ice cream?"

Frederika snapped her fingers impatiently. "A la mode!" she sneered, "If you country bumpkins know what that means?"

Katie wrote it down quickly. "Yes, Ma'am. Of course!"

"Make it QUICK!" said Frederika sharply, "I want to be in LA before the end of the month."

Frazzled, Katie handed over the order to the short-order cook and said "She said 'a la mode' is that French or something?"

The cook, who had learned his cooking skills behind bars wasn't up to culinary terms. "French, that must be cream. Everything French has cream and butter!"

Within minutes Katie was back and set down a lovely slice of apple pie topped with an artistically swirled mound of cream. "What is this? I asked for ice cream! Are you stupid?"

Frederika poked at the pie with her fork. "'A la mode' is hot pie with ice cream on top!"

Katie was flustered, "I'm so sorry, I misunderstood...I'll get you that pie, Ma'm."

"You can at least get me the coffee, can't you?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Katie fetched the pot of hot coffee but her hands were shaking so much she spilled half of it over the table.

"What a clumsy idiot!" screamed Frederika. "You got coffee on my jacket! Keep your pie and your bloody coffee!"

She grabbed her jacket and her handbag and stormed out. Katie started wiping down the table and noticed that Frederika had left her wallet on the seat next to her. Katie grabbed the wallet and ran out.

Frederika was in the Chevrolet, checking her lipstick in the rearview mirror when Katie ran up. "Miss! Wait, please!" and she waved the snakeskin wallet she held in her hand.

Frederika stepped out of the car. "My wallet!" she cried, and immediately opened it. Inside was a thick wad of $100 bills, credit cards, and documents. She quickly checked and saw that nothing was missing.

"Thank you," she said grudgingly to Katie. Then she pulled out a few $100 bills and offered them to Katie. "I suppose you deserve a reward for being honest."

Katie looked at Frederika and at the money in her hand. "No thank you, Ma'am. I didn't do it for you, or for the reward, I did it because that's the kind of person I am, and my mother taught me to be kind and honest to everyone I meet."

Katie turned and walked back to the diner, and Frederika stood there with the money in her hand. Kind and honest, she thought to herself. Was she kind and honest? This teen with the bright smile and the worn shoes had taught her a lesson.

Frederika had offered Katie a lot more than she earned in a week, but she'd turned it down because it was against her principles. The rest of the way to LA Frederika was haunted by Katie's smile and her last words.

What can we learn from this story?

1. Bitterness sours your life. Frederika was angry at her life, and she ended up taking it out on Karie who was poor and vulnerable.

2. Honesty is a way of life. Katie could have kept Frederika's wallet. No one else had seen it, and she needed the money, but she immediately gave it to its owner without even opening it.

3. Be true to yourself. Katie showed Frederika that being true to yourself and your values is what makes you a worthy person, not money or possessions.

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Any resemblance in this story to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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