from archives on freerepublic.com.
The Washington Times 2/16/00 Barbara Saffir "…..Mrs. Clinton called to apologize to the waitress she stiffed at a diner in Albion, N.Y., after she walked out on consuming two breakfasts on the house without leaving a tip. But she didn't say anything about making it up to her. Since then, hundreds of residents of the big village called America, on reading about the incident in their newspapers or hearing Jay Leno's jokes about it, have. Tricia "Trish" Trupo, 31, the single mom who waited on the first lady at the Village House Restaurant last week, has received hundreds of dollars in the mail. Mrs. Trupo, an uninsured mother of an 11-year-old son who earns about $5,000 a year before tips, says Mrs. Clinton's "personal planner" called her Friday to apologize for the first lady after she read about it in The Washington Times. Shortly after that, Mrs. Clinton called herself. "She apologized for not giving a tip," Mrs. Trupo says. "She said I was a sweetheart." But she didn't say anything about a forthcoming tip. "She didn't offer and I didn't ask." "I work for the waitress wage -$2.90 an hour plus your tips. "Basically, you live off your tips. Me and my son have no health insurance at the moment." …… Americans from as far away as California and Florida have sent cards and letters with money enclosed - mainly $1 bills. Some have enclosed $10 bills. "A lot of them say, 'You go girl,' " says Mrs. Trupo, 31. "Some of them say, 'Good luck to you and your son. I hope this dollar adds up for you.' " Meanwhile, visitors to a conservative Internet site - freerepublic.com - have sent her more than $500, says Peter W. Kessler of Jupiter, Fla., one of the first people to suggest sending her money. "I am amazed at the amount, the number of people who have jumped on this," he says. ….."
NewsMax.com 2/12/00 Carl Limbacher "….As news percolated through the Internet Friday that Hillary Clinton had accepted a hearty free breakfast at an upstate New York diner and then stiffed the waitress out of her tip, charter VRWC members at the Web site Free Republic were taking pledges to make up for the First Freeloader's stinginess. As of Saturday morning, the "It Takes A Village To Tip A Waitress Fund" had collected over $250.00 in pledges. Within 24 hours of its first report in the Washington Times, the story of the Hillary's snub of "Trish" the waitress (her boss at the "Village House" diner in Albion, N.Y., won't release her full name) had become a defining moment in Clinton's bid to become that state's next U.S. senator. …."
http://www.alamo-girl.com/02741.htm