Postcards from the Hotel #11 — The Invisible Tips | Postales desde el hotel #11 — Las propinas invisibles
Published on HivePostify by @marysol777 · Fri Aug 21 2026
Ladies of Hive --------------
Postcards from the Hotel #11 ----------------------------
The Invisible Tips
Source [Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/thank-you-thanks-card-message-note-515514/)
Hello dear Ladies of Hive community,
After many years working in hospitality, I have learned that a breakfast can end in many different ways.
Some guests leave quickly because they have an excursion waiting for them. Others remain at the table talking for a few more minutes. Some leave a tip beside their cup of coffee, while others simply stand up, smile and say goodbye.
I have never thought that one way is better than the other.
A tip is a way of recognizing someone's work, and I am grateful whenever a guest chooses to do that. But over the years, I have discovered that there are other kinds of tips that cannot be counted or put inside a wallet.
I call them invisible tips.
Sometimes they arrive in the form of a simple "thank you" while someone looks you directly in the eyes.
Sometimes it is a guest who notices that you have been working since early in the morning and says, "You must be tired. Thank you for everything."
And sometimes it is even smaller than that.
A smile when I bring the coffee.
A kind gesture when I clear the table.
A note written on a napkin before a guest leaves.
I remember once finding a little message left behind after breakfast. It was nothing elaborate. Just a few words thanking me for taking care of them.
I do not remember exactly what the guest had eaten that morning.
I do not remember what they were wearing or where they were going afterward.
But I remember the feeling that those words left in me.
At 50 years old, I have come to understand that there is a difference between being paid for your work and feeling valued while doing it.
Money is important. I would never pretend otherwise.
But money cannot replace respect.
It cannot replace being treated as a person.
It cannot replace the feeling that someone noticed your effort.
Working in a hotel, we sometimes become almost invisible to the people we serve. We appear with the coffee, clear the plates, answer a question, clean a table and move on to the next task.
For us, it may be an ordinary morning at work.
For a guest, it may be just one breakfast during a week of vacation.
But a small gesture of kindness can change the way that ordinary moment feels.
That is why I try to remember that every person I serve is carrying a life that I know very little about.
And they should remember the same about me.
Perhaps that is what makes a sincere "thank you" so valuable.
It does not pay a bill.
It does not buy anything.
But it says: "I saw you. I noticed what you did."
And sometimes, that is exactly what a tired person needs to hear.
Over the years, I have received tips that I no longer remember and forgotten many of the bills that passed through my hands.
But I still remember certain words.
Perhaps that is why I call them invisible tips.
They cannot be deposited in a bank, but they can stay with us for a very long time.
Thank you for reading.
Translation into English made with DeepL Translate.
🇪🇸 En Español ---------------
Ladies of Hive --------------
Postales desde el hotel #11 ---------------------------
Las propinas invisibles
Fuente [Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/thank-you-thanks-card-message-note-515514/)
Hola querida comunidad de Ladies of Hive,
Después de muchos años trabajando en la hotelería, he aprendido que un desayuno puede terminar de muchas maneras.
Algunos huéspedes se marchan rápidamente porque tienen una excursión esperándolos. Otros permanecen unos minutos más conversando en la mesa. Algunos dejan una propina junto a su taza de café, mientras que otros simplemente se levantan, sonríen y se despiden.
Tags: #hive-124452#ecency#spanish#hivecuba#sublimesunday#enlace#bbh#poofofbrain#indiaunited#alive