Diners surprise waitress with $1200 tip

NEW JERSEY - A group of diners surprised a server working at an IHOP in Paterson, New Jersey, with an extremely generous tip on December 14.

Activist and teacher Zellie Thomas and his friends each brought $100 to the pancake restaurant with the intention of leaving it for the person who waited on them while they dined.

Footage tweeted by Thomas shows the stunned server clutching the cash, which added up to $1,200, and thanking the group.

“When she got the money, she was looking at it like, ‘Oh, you guys gave me too much money … Here’s it back,’ " Thomas told NJ.com. "And we were like, ‘No, that’s yours.’ "

The holiday-timed act of kindness was inspired by similar incidents in Colorado, and the spreading practice has become known as Shock & Claus.