You are about to witness the story of Armando Markaj and Karen Vinacour. Indeed they were entirely Strangers before they bumped into each other and they become connected after an amazing incident. This story is way different than what you usually read!
Markaj was a waiter at a classic pizzeria in NYC and life was quite hard for him then. One day, Vinacour stopped by the shop, enjoyed her meal, and left without giving him a tip. Yet, due to what he did after that results in changing her life as he discerned she left behind something much more valuable than a tip.
Struggling Student
Everyone who works at Patsy’s Pizzeria certainly has the goal to achieve a good career in the industry and working specifically at this place is like a badge of honor. But, it was not the goal of waiter Armando Markaj.
He was a medical student of 27 years old and he was working part-time. He took the best job that he found. Living expenses in NYC are so high so that he wanted to get a job to cover his tuition fees and rent. He expected way better tips from its A-list customers as Patsy’s was a renowned business.
NYC Landmark
This unimaginable viral story takes us to one of the most notable pizza places in New York City – Patsy’s Pizzeria. It was named after its originator Pasquale “Patsy” Lancieri, who opened the entryways of this NYC milestone to the general population in 1933.
Without taking much time, Patsy’s Pizzeria became one of the best pizza shops in the Big Apple, with both locals and tourists. Apart from that, this shop is one of New York’s earliest pizza places along with Lombardi’s, Totonno’s, and John’s.
Iconic Crust
Patsy’s Pizzeria was situated in the prevalently Italian neighborhood of East Harlem and it initially obliged the developing populace of Italian workers in NYC. They were attracted to its family environment and tasty cooking that helped them to remember their country.
Lancieri took in his specialty while working at Lombardi’s and immediately began serving block broiler pizza at his own café. Patsy’s had likewise been credited for being one of the main pizza shops that presented the conventional slight covering pizza that New York City is currently known for.
Busy Day
Regardless of how famous a restaurant is, Saturday tends to be quite busy because of the huge crowd, and at Patsy’s Pizzeria, there was no difference. Markaj was working hard all day to make his customers satisfied and get the orders to their tables in time.
He was quite sure that he can endure anything that happens in his life because there’s nothing that can surprise you when you work at Patsy’s for a long time. Loud tourists, chatty locals, and A-list stars all enjoy their pizza, but it seemed that there was one customer he wasn’t prepared to serve.
Special Customer
Markaj did not have any idea that they were going to have a long-lasting connection with each other when Karen Vinacour stopped by Patsy’s Pizzeria. He dealt with her as usual as he is like with other customers and he never thought that he would remember her face even after serving food.
Their initial conversation didn’t appear to be a good one making things even worse due to one innocent comment he made during their short interplay. If so, how did they wind up having a significant relationship that changed the whole life of Vinacour’s life?
Celebratory Lunch
Karen Vinacour didn’t go to Patsy’s all alone on that unwavering Saturday – she was there with her little girl after they took a gander at an apartment suite she needed to purchase. It was to some degree a celebratory lunch since she was prepared to make an upfront installment for her new home.
Patsy’s Pizzeria had gained notoriety for quite a long time, so they chose to look at what their mark dainty outside layer pizza was about. All things considered, they were at that point in East Harlem, and there was no preferred spot to go over here.
Major Expansion
Before you read the story, you should know some super significant things about Patsy Lancieri and his pizzeria, that had become an East Harlem landmark. This restaurant is well renowned for providing warm meals whenever a customer shows up. Frank Brija bought the pizzeria from Patsy’s wife after he passed away.
Brija transformed it into a franchise not so long after becoming the new owner of Patsy’s Pizzeria and even trademarked the name. He enlarged the expansion by establishing new restaurants everywhere in New York, and it gives the chance for people to try Patsy’s pizza whenever they want without going to East Harlem.
Celebrity Clientele
Patsy’s signature cuisine, moderated environment, and the fame allured several celebrity clients to this New York branch. They served the best pizza in the city and it made even rich and famous people try it.
Those stars who regularly stopped by Patsy’s pizzeria include Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett. Not only that, but also it became a meeting place for famous Yankees, counting Phil Rizzutto, Joe Dimaggio, and Yogi Berra, thanks to its suitable locality.
Long History
Patsy’s Pizzeria come s with a long history around almost a century and what were been hanging on its walls provides proof for its history. The original East Harlem place has numerous photos of popular figures who visited this pizza spot over the years.
Taking photographs of famous people who gave Patsy’s their seal of endorsement is probably the longest convention that this NYC milestone is known for. It’s additionally part of the motivation behind why this pizza joint circulated around the web in 2019 – yet not in the manner in which a great many people would anticipate.
(In)famous Wall
Like every other person who had the delight to eat at Patsy’s, Vinacour and her daughter promptly saw the many photographs that graced the dividers of this pizza place. They paused for a minute to analyze them and saw a theme that didn’t agree with them.
Despite the reality, numerous popular individuals ate at this café in recent decades, Vinacour saw the vast majority of those captured by the proprietors were men. They didn’t have a clue what to think about it and chose to request that their server clarify the absence of assorted variety on the divider.
Innocent Joke
Vinacour and her daughter asked why there aren’t there women in the wall when Markaj came again with their order. He never took it seriously before, so he turned it into an innocent joke without giving them a real answer.
“There’s a bunch of women, and she goes ‘not as much as there should be.’ Well, summer is coming, probably women don’t like to eat pizza as much. You know, sense of humor,” recalled Markaj while chatting with ABC 7.
Not So Funny
Even though Markaj was just kidding about their question, Vinacour and her daughter seemed not enjoying it. It made them more uncomfortable than the lack of women photos on the wall. They fund themselves in a position where they no longer could enjoy their meal after what happened.
As a person who has devoted most of her retirement to volunteering with charities in Laos to cater to needy women and children, the comment made by Markaj was not funny at all. She worked closely with women who have the ability to many fascinating things including eating pizza.
No Tip
Vinacour and her daughter tended to do something abnormal, once they finished their meal. Quitting a restaurant without tipping is considered an act of extreme rudeness, yet, still, they did it after the Markaj’s joke which made them confused.
“The consensus of opinion was not to give him a tip, and we wrote on the note ‘Women eat pizza, and by the way, have you heard that women don’t leave tips?'” Vinacour later told ABC 7.
Tipping Culture
Vinacour’s choice to leave the eatery without tipping her server wouldn’t be viewed as abnormal in some different nations, however, it surely is in the States. Leaving anything short of 15 percent is viewed as wrong, and 20 percent is typically the standard.
Numerous individuals working in the service industry wouldn’t have the option to manage the cost of living if not for tips. They’re frequently paid path beneath the lowest pay permitted by law since it’s implied they’ll make a great buck through the tips they get from clients – except if they leave without tipping them.
Side Hustle
Regardless of numerous drawbacks of functioning as a server, you can rake in tons of cash by finding a new line of work at a popular eatery with a great deal of pedestrian activity. Armando Markaj was fortunate enough to make sure about a spot at one of NYC’s most well-known pizza places, yet this was only a side hustle for him.
He never wanted to do this job for a long time, he just wanted to cover the college tuition and this is the only way that he could do it. As he was a medical student and getting a degree in this discipline needed experience in hard work and perseverance.
Let it Go
Markaj understood that Vinacour and her daughter didn’t like joke very much, but he continued to work on as usual. Being a waiter is not that easy as it seems and thinking about everything that customers say would only make you upset, so he let it go.
Regardless of how diligently you attempt to satisfy everybody, there are consistently individuals who won’t be content with your service since they may be having a terrible day. That is the reason Markaj wasn’t vexed when he came back to Vinacour’s table and seen she left no tip.
Cleaning Up
Markaj was so busy with his work and he had no time to fret about Vinacour and her daughter. It was a Saturday and Patsy’s was more crowded than usual. He had to work hard and fast to serve pizza lovers who were eagerly waiting for their orders.
He went to Vinacour’s table intending to clean everything that mother and daughter left behind. Indeed, there’s as no tip, yet it took a few minutes for Markaj to discern he was holding much more valuable in his hands.
Left Behind
It was such an exhausting day and all that Markaj wanted was to throw away everything to get back to work. Patsy’s was full of customers and he had no time to waste. Yet, he noted that Vinacour had left an envelope behind.
“I was very close to taking everything left on the table and throwing it out when I saw an envelope. I just pulled up the flap and I saw ‘Citibank’ and thought it was important, so I ran out to the street to look for her, but she was gone,” the waiter told NY Daily News.
Worth a Fortune
Markaj couldn’t accept the obvious reality when he opened the envelope and saw what’s inside. It wasn’t only an arbitrary bit of paper that Vinacour left on the table since it was useless, yet a clerk’s check worth $424,000! In case you’re uncertain what a clerk’s check is, it’s essentially a watch that is treated as ensured reserves in light of the fact that the bank, as opposed to the buyer, is the one answerable for paying the sum. It’s regularly required for land exchanges.
In some other case, Markaj would just put things deserted by the clients in the lost and discovered box, yet he wasn’t going to do that with practically a large portion of a million dollars. He quickly went to the proprietor Frank Brija, so they could make sense of their following stage together.
Big Loss
It was Sunday night when Vinacour found out that her check was lost when she opened the inner pockets of her purse and saw that it was empty. She rushed to a closeby Citibank’s branch the next morning, but there was no way of getting it back according to the bank.
“They said they couldn’t immediately cancel it because it was a cashier’s check. I would have to wait at least three months before they could even start the process, and only if someone didn’t cash it in the meantime. My world just collapsed,” recalled Vinacour in an interview with NY Daily News.
The Search Begins
Vinacour couldn’t just let her life savings to be lost in nowhere, thus she determined to find the check by doing everything that she could do it within her powers. She was in despair to buy an apartment, hence she had a place of her own to live. Now, it is entirely impossible without her check.
She instantly called her daughter and the real estate agent who was with them on Saturday hoping that they’ll remember where she left it. Vinacour began to search in the trash of the household to check whether the t]check was there when nothing worked.
Hard Times
You might think that Vinacour is super-rich to have $424,000 at her disposal. But it was way far from the truth. She had to sleep in her family and friend’s houses at the time while struggling to find enough money to buy her a new condo.
Vinacpur had a pristine credit history, and she put a burly payment for an apartment but was not that easy. She had to try hard to get the bank financing she desperately needed as she was still paying for the loan she once got for her daughter’s studies.
Going Back
Each time individuals lose something significant, their first nature is to follow their means, and that is actually what Vinacour did after understanding her check wasn’t in the rubbish. She made a beeline for East Harlem, trusting it was still at one of the spots she visited on Saturday.
She originally made a stop at a bistro down the road from Patsy’s, yet the check wasn’t there. Vinacour was going to visit the famous pizza place when her telephone began ringing and she quickly got it.
Bad News
When she answered the phone, Vinacour had to listen to some worse news. Her real estate broker called her tp inform that nobody in Patsy’s knew anything about her check, so as she told when she contacted the place.
Yes, you guessed right. It was not possible! How comes no one knows about anything about the check when we already know that Markaj found the check right away after they left the restaurant.
The Waiting Game
This what had happened. It turns out that the real estate agent called a different Patsy’s restaurant and she never understood that it was not the one that they dined. The check was safe in the East Harlem Patsy’s restaurant while Vinacour was running here and there to find her check.
Frank Brija was quite sure that someone will come looking for it because it was a huge amount of money. Yet, Brija began to worry since no one came even after two days. As her name was there on the check, Brija asked his son to search Karen Vinacour online.
Great Reunion
Frank Brija was in contact with the local community because he owns one of New York’s most beloved pizzerias. Thus he decided to get help from New Tork’s Hometown Newspaper by contacting them.
They were able to find Vinacour in no time. She rushed to Patsy’s instantly after she got the news from over a phone call. She was overjoyed to see her check again and she was so grateful to Markaj for keeping it safe even though treated him rudely.
Big Apology
Vinacour promptly apologized to Markaj for not tipping him and let it out wasn’t her best second. She said her little girl is “kind of feisty” so they chose not to leave him a tip since the two of them disdained his remark.
“I’m so grateful that the insult that we gave him did not prevent him from doing the right thing,” the lady revealed to ABC 7 in the wake of returning to Patsy’s to get the $424,000 watch that she’s been frantically scanning for.
Special Picture
Owner Frank Briha took this moment as an opportunity to show Vinacour that there are pictures of the female stars as well on the wall. It was then Vinacour see these photos of women.
TV personality Barbara Walters, First Lady of New York Chirlane McCray, and former City Council Speakers Christine Quinn and Melissa Mark-Viverito were only some of them. Vinacour felt like it was a special moment as well so that she asked to take picture of hers as a remembrance of this special incident.
The Right Thing
Markaj humbly accepted Viancour’s gratitude and apology, yet he denied it when Vinacour wanted to reward him financially. So instead, decided to give him a gift certificate for education supplies yet the real gift was in itself; the ability to help other people.
“It would have been dramatic for a lot of people. She was in tears. She was super excited that someone had found it and kept it. Small details like this define us as humans – it’s just a small gesture,” Markaj told ABC 7.