Photo : AndreyPopov ( iStock )

There are two categories of social-media challenges: dumb and awesome. (With very little gray area, unfortunately). Eating Tide Pods? Dumb. What The Fluff Challenge? Awesome, at least in this dog lover’s opinion. But the recent #tipthebillchallenge beats them all: Diners are leaving 100-percent tips and posting proof to Instagram and Twitter. As of today, there are about 2,000 Instagram posts using #tipthebill or #tipthebillchallenge.


Celebrities and other high-rollers are known to leave fat tips, but what’s cool about this #tipthebill trend is that it seems to be mostly average people tipping on pretty average tabs. Many of the posts show tabs that, pre-tip, are in the $20-$60 range.


That means the restaurants where they’re tipping aren’t necessarily high-end; the grateful recipients of their generosity are servers at burger spots, Olive Gardens, Outbacks, etc.

While we’re probably all not in a position to tip like this all the time, if you’re feeling flush one particular day, why not spread the love? Restaurant workers, especially employees on tipped minimum wage, are paid horribly. The challenge has warmed the heart of this cynical Takeout writer, so just think what it will do for your server’s mood.