I felt bad for the waitress. What is the proper way to react in that situation? You could tell she was thrilled and wanted to run to tell people she knew, but felt obligated to talk to the family.
I think it would come off better if they left the tip with a business card to the website to explain it rather than put her on the spot.
I once was at Tim Horton's in the drive thru and had the random stranger in front of me pay for my order. That had more of an impact on me than if I had a conversation with them.
