Group of friends leaves IHOP waitress $1,200 tip

It’s being called Shock and Claus and it’s spreading the country. People get together in a group and put up a hundred bucks each to pool together. They go to a restaurant and then surprise the server at the end of their meal with a huge tip. One of the early adopters of this movement was a businessman in Colorado named Don Overcash.

Overcash is a fitting name. He did this last year with a big group of thirty people and is at it again this year, with his groups leaving hundreds if not thousands behind in tips.

The Shock and Claus has now arrived in New Jersey.

Zellie Thomas told NJ.com that he was part of a group that went to an IHOP in Paterson and surprised their waitress with a $1,200 tip.

Zellie Thomas works as a teacher so I can’t imagine he has a ton of money to throw around, yet he wanted to be part of something special. He told NJ.com, “I really hope this shows people that there’s power in community and all it takes is a group of friends to come together and change someone else’s life.”

The server was said to be moved to tears by the random generosity. While the Shock and Claus movement started in Colorado, it’s been popping up in places other than Jersey. Just this past Friday a group in Bolingbrook, Illinois was scheduled to repeat their kind act of a year before and leave $2,000 to an unsuspecting server.

What a beautiful gesture by some beautiful people at the holidays.

More from New Jersey 101.5