Forget about 15 percent. The tip Waikiki Cheesecake Factory waitress Alison Feeney got from a wealthy Alaska businessman is the stuff movies are made of.

After waiting on him twice, Feeney was given $550 and two round-trip tickets to Rome for her and her mother.

It started when Feeney, 24, told the customer she was "a little bit lost" and didn't know where her life was going.

The customer, whose identity Feeney wanted to protect, gave that a thought and said:

"You know what you should do? You should go to Rome. Go to the Coliseum. Go to the Vatican. Soak in all that history and I promise, you'll figure out what you want to do with your life," Feeney said, quoting the customer.

She replied she couldn't afford a trip.

"Then he kind of looks at me and goes, 'Give me a minute,' " Feeney said, speaking from a bed-and-breakfast in Rome. When she returned, the man was holding out his cell phone.

"Here. This is Judy. Talk to Judy. She does all of my travel bookings." Feeney picked up the phone. The woman on the other end asked her when she wanted to go to Italy with her mother.

"I just kind of go, 'Well, I don't really know. I would need to talk with my mom. I don't even know what's happening right now. This is so strange,'" said Feeney.

As the customer walked away, Feeney asked him for his e-mail address or a way to contact him, but he said, "Nope. Have fun."

Her benefactor could not be reached yesterday for comment. Feeney gave his name to The Advertiser, but asked that it not be printed unless he approved.

Feeney arrived in Rome on Wednesday Hawai'i time after picking up her mother, Diane, in Atlanta.

"We walked around for about 11 hours and saw everything," Feeney said. "We saw the spot today where Julius Caesar's body was burned, and people still put flowers on it. That was really cool. This obviously is a life-changing thing.

"It's the coolest thing that's ever happen to me by far," she said.

Of course, the question many have when they hear Feeney's story is: What sort of payback is the Alaska businessman looking for from the waitress?

The guy in the position to be most worried, Feeney's boy-friend, says he doesn't think that's a problem.

Fernando Rivera, a bartender at the Cheesecake Factory where Feeney works, said, "I don't think he wants anything. He's just an all-right guy. He's a complete stranger who did it just, well, because."

Rivera has poured drinks for the same customer and recalls how he would tip $50 on a $30 bar tab.

"All he asks for is a good Long Island ice tea," Rivera said.

Fast-forward to Italy: Feeney and her mother are enjoying the sights and thinking of their benefactor.

"I would love to show him all the pictures and show him how much fun we had," Feeney said. "Pictures of me and my mom at the Trevi Fountain."

Feeney's also trying to figure out her life so she can report back to the Alaska businessman that his suggestion was on the mark. She has a degree in marketing from the University of Georgia but hasn't put that to use yet.

"I'd like to think that when I see him I'll have answers about my life because I think that was probably his point, too, for me to figure my life out, although that's not an easy thing to do."

After just one day in Rome, Feeney said she was still looking for the answers. But she said the customer's generosity did give her a different perspective on people.

"You deal with so many people who just have bad attitudes, and it's nice to know that there are good people out there," she said.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.