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Former Waitress Sends Restaurant $1,000 Cash & Apologizes for Stealing 20 Years Ago

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It’s never too late to do the right thing. Sometimes amends are decades in the making. Even after years have passed, an apology can go a long way.

An El Charro restaurant in Tuscon, Arizona, brought attention to an anonymous note they received from a former employee.

The owner of the restaurant, Carlotta Flores, had been having a bad week. While out shopping for groceries, the restaurant owner was shoved and her purse was stolen.

Thankfully, an act of kindness with the hope of forgiveness turned Flores’ week around. On Friday, July 27, she received a phone call from her son.

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“He says, ‘Mom, you have to come downtown,'” Flores shared. “‘You have an envelope here and I’ve gone ahead and opened it.’ And he says, ‘You’re going to be greatly surprised.'”

The envelope contained a handwritten letter from a former University of Arizona student. “Dear Carlotta and Family,” the letter begins. “I worked for you as a waitress very briefly back in the 1990’s, while a student at U of A.”

The note goes on to explain how she’d been encouraged by a waiter to neglect to ring up drinks here and there, taking the cash for herself instead.

“I grew up in the church, I knew better,” the letter reads. “I hadn’t stolen a dime before then, nor have I since. Thankfully, I was a terrible waitress and you all fired me before it could amount to more than a few hundred dollars total.”

The lighthearted confession couldn’t have come at a better time for Flores. Along with the apology was $1,000 in cash.

Though the former employee admitted to only taking a few hundred dollars, she included more than she owed and added interest, hoping Flores and her family would accept the apology.

“You don’t always have to tell someone who you are to make things right for you both,” Carlotta’s son, Ray, wrote on Facebook. “This made our week!”

“Some of my managers read the letter and they actually had tears in their eyes,” Flores shared. “They know that there’s very long days and food has a very little profit margin on it.”

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Flores added that she hopes the anonymous woman will see how greatly her belated apology has affected the owner and her family.

They also plan on “paying the money forward.” “We will be putting out an announcement soon on how we can use this money for future good,” Ray wrote on Facebook.

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Sarah Carri is an avid reader and social media guru with a passion for truth and life. Her writing has previously been published in print and online by Focus on the Family and other well known media outlets. Her experience in ministry and Disney entertainment gives her a unique perspective on such topics.
Sarah Carri is an avid reader and social media guru with a passion for truth and life. Her writing has previously been published in print and online by Focus on the Family and other well known media outlets. Her experience in ministry and Disney entertainment gives her a unique perspective on such topics.

Sarah's experience as a successful working stay-at-home mom and business owner has given her the chance to write and research often. She stays up to date on the latest in entertainment and offers her views on celebrity stories based on her wide knowledge of the industry. Her success as a former preschool teacher and licensed daycare provider lend to her know-how on topics relating to parenting and childhood education.

Her thoughts on faith and family issues stem from home life and ministry work. Sarah takes time to attend workshops and classes annually that help her to improve and hone her writing craft. She is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature program and her writing has been acclaimed by ACFW and ECPA.
Education
Institute of Children's Literature, Art Institute of Phoenix (Advertising), University of California Irvine (Theater), Snow College (Early Childhood Education)
Location
Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Entertainment, Faith




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