The former strongman accompanied by a group of loyal Diyawanna members left for South Korea the other day in response to an invitation.

The day he took the flight, the former strongman as usual retired to the special guests’ lounge at the airport to wait for the travel documents duly sealed and endorsed.

They were thus cooling their heels in the lounge, when an airport attendant approached the former strongman and asked him: “Sir, would you like to have a cup of tea?”

The former strongman asked for coffee instead and later they all had coffee. Passports and other documents were soon returned and they were about to leave the lounge to board the plane when a lounge attendant came running and extended an oblong paper. They were all surprised to find it was a bill for Rs. 4,500 for having coffee in the special guests’ lounge. 

An aide of the former strongman immediately handed a Rs. 5,000 note to the airport attendant. 
The attendant who got wise to the situation, said apologetically: “Sir, we now charge for tea and coffee served in this lounge. I’ll pay the bill and bring back the balance immediately…”

One of the group then gave a pat on the back of the attendant and told him: “Don’t bother to bring back the balance. Hand it to the one who ordered the billing for the coffee served as our ‘tip’ with our compliments!”