One day when I was serving I got sat with a grumpy old guy who was by himself. I see him sit down and start reading the paper. I approach the table and say, “Hello sir! How are you doing today?” He keeps looking at the paper and says, “Merlot, lasagna, minestrone, and some bread,” never even bothering to look at me. How polite. Needless to say I took my sweet time on getting him anything and not surprisingly he tipped me like shit. The only solace I could take was knowing that I was getting that dollar tip no matter what, so why go above and beyond with service? I could have done a back flip with a full tray and pulled his lasagna out of a hat and he wouldn’t have even noticed. Thanks for the tip!
- J
GD Star Rating
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I really hate when servers assume I am not going to tip. I understand that I look like I am broke and have the social skills of an autistic chimpanzee but I do in fact love tipping, mostly because all my friends and girlfriend work in the service industry and I know what a nice tip can do for the table slaves. But seriously, maybe he just wanted to be left alone and read his paper. dick.
I understand that some people want to be left alone. I know it’s outdated, but I STILL love busying myself with a newspaper. But I’ve never be SO engrossed in a newspaper to not put it down for the nanosecond it takes to make eye contact with the person talking to me, and respond to them. Had this server been annoyingly chatty throughout the duration of this guys meal/reading session, then yes, that sucks. But she wasn’t. She was simply doing her job and getting him the basics to further enjoy said paper.
It’s called “having a brief conversation with another human”. Conversation- root word being, “CONVERSE”. As in, I say something, and CONVERSELY, you give me a response. If someone asked you how you were doing, wouldn’t you be confused about a response such as, “Merlot, Lasagna, Minestrone, and some Bread”? Especially when this asshole could’ve torn himself away from reading some shitty “Marmaduke” cartoon long enough to say, “I’m fine, thank you. I would like (said food items)” He then would’ve gotten what he wanted, read his paper in solitude, and treated his server with some legitimate conversation and some goddamn dignity.
You really shouldn’t assume, you know. College Kid is right. Just the other day I had the same kind of guy. Never smiled and I mean NEVER. SMILED. Didn’t care for small talk. Just wanted his salad, shake, and steak. Fair enough. I’ve never down-graded my service and I’m glad I didn’t. He left me $7 on his $13 bill. I mean, at least he was to the point and told you everything he wanted all at once.
“Needless to say, I took my sweet time…”
and you wonder why you got left a shit tip. Always, ALWAYS give customers an opportunity to surprise you.