Woman Stiffed Her Waiter, He Still Returned Her $424,000 Cashier's Check

guy namedArmando Markaj waits tables at a well-known pizza joint in New York calledPatsy's. And earlier this month, a lady named Karen Vinacour was there with her adult daughter, and didn't leave a tip. Here's why . . .

The walls of the place are covered in photos of famous people who've been there. And she asked why there weren't more photos of women. So Armando joked that maybe they just don't like pizza as much. And they didn't like that. So they stiffed him and left.

But then Armando had a chance for some major payback. Because they accidentally left an envelope behind . . . with a cashier's check in it for 424 THOUSAND BUCKS.

It turned out Karen was looking at apartments in the area. The check was her down payment, and Armando COULD have deposited it since it was a cashier's check. But instead, he gave it to his boss so no one else would get their hands on it.

Karen freaked out when she couldn't find the check. Especially when her bank said she'd have to wait three months to even TRY to cancel it. And she's not rich. She's a retired social worker, and it was a huge chunk of her life savings.

"The New York Daily News"ended up tracking her down after they heard about the story. And she offered Armando a VERY nice tip as a reward. But he declined. So she's helping with school supplies, because he's working his way through med school.

She also apologized for stiffing him. And in the end, she kind of got what she wanted. Because they took a photo together. And now the restaurant is putting a photo of HER on the wall. 

(NY Daily News/UPI)