Look! Down Here!
We've got a psycho! I recently posted an entry about how much to leave for a tip. Personally, I leave a minimum of 20%, after tax; more at a bar, since I don't drink much at all. Also, I'm pleasant and friendly with the person serving me, which probably counts for something. All in all, it's rare I have problems with the service at places I go. On the blog item at the link there was a long and varied discussion, and then this (I always love when people rage at me, and start right off the bat with a hilarious spelling error):
Amy "Yes you should tip 15% at least." Are you that NIEVE?Have you EVER heard of "PRESSING A WRONG BUTTON?" Have you EVER heard of "FORGETTING TO PUT AN ORDER IN?"
YES, that's happened to MY HUSBAND AND I. Forgetting to put an appetizer in has happened to us once, which we waited literally a half an hour for an appetizer, which is JUST as long as a entree order should take there abouts 25-35 minutes average wait for an normal entree(not including something well done.) We've also had ***SEVERAL*** instances where the **********SERVER*********** just PRESSED THE WRONG BUTTON, THEREFORE, THEY **ADMITTED** THEY DID! SO HOW THE HELL CAN THAT BE THE "COOK'S" FAULT? IT CAN'T BY ANY MEANS! COOKS DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL TO COOK, THEREFORE, EITHER NO FOOD OR THE WRONG FOOD CAME OUT. THE TIP SHOULD REFLECT WHAT *********THE SERVER*********** DID! THE COOK HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING TO DO WITH THOSE ISSUES, NOTHING! IT'S THE TRUTH!
Also, cold food, I've had a server I SAW LITERALLY chit chatting with one of her customers, therefore got a ZERO for my order not being correctly being brought to me. If I would have saw her busting butt, that's different, but considering she had the TIME to CHIT CHAT, she SURE THE HELL HAD TIME to get my order correct, didn't she? It was plain obvious she was FLIRTING with the guy after more than at least 5 minutes talking to just him and the way she acted and NEVER APOLOGIED(OF COURSE).
I tip for people who actually WORK for their money, NOT PLAY MAKING MY SERVICE BAD. If you think for one second that a server is NEVER responsible for wrong food or cold food, you are TRULY 100% STUPID!
YOU SAY: "If ever you get a discounted meal, you should tip on the full price of the meal."
ONLY if it's ***NOT*** YOUR server's fault. If it IS, WHY THE HELL SHOULD SOMEONE PAY SOMEONE WELL TO PRESS A WRONG BUTTON OR "FORGET" THINGS OR PLAY AROUND? One time at Chili's, a waitress went to greet another table instead of putting my white russian order in to get her HAND KISSED by 4 guys. F*** HER TIP, HER TIP WENT TO AROUND 5%! YOU SHOW ME YOU ARE WILLING TO DO ******YOUR JOB***************, THEN I WILL TIP YOU, OTHERWISE, WTF DO YOU THINK YOU DESERVE FOR *******F*** FLIRTING ON THE JOB? 10% EVEN? F** THAT! TREAT OTHERS AS YOU'D LIKE TO BE TREATED!
YOU SAID: "Additionally, I take into account that I don't drink very much when tipping at the bar, and leave more."
If you leave ANYTHING for a beer that's in a bottle you are being VERY, VERY, VERY, UNFAIR to the people at McDonald's that put ice and drink in a cup for NO TIP! So unless they MAKE a mixed drink, ONLY THEN DO bartender's deserve a tip.
I wonder what would happen if she squeezed a couple extra coins out of her ass. Would she explode?
My dad used to be a bad tipper...my mom told him he didn't have to tip when they go out, from then on, they will just go to McDonald's, Burger King, and so on.
That lady could use my mom's advice.
I don't see why your take on tipping at the bar deserved so much wrath...I don't tip very much at the bar, like you, but I really didn't take your comment as the end-all-be-all of tipping etiquette. What you do is your own business. People shouldn't get pissed at you for it.
That is, if she was pissed...Are asterisks now a symbol of vexation?
Brenda at March 10, 2007 6:07 AM
I don't know, but they made me laugh. Along with calling me "NIEVE." Used to know a guy named Tony Nieves. No relation, I'm pretty sure.
Amy Alkon at March 10, 2007 6:18 AM
Wow...
Personally (having worked waiter jobs and depended on the income), I think you give 15% as the base and then go up and down from there.
OH, BUT WHEN THEY GET MY ORDER WRONG?!? I MAKE those stupid mother-*($%*(&$ TIP ME by sneaking MONEY out OF their BLOODY tip JAR or THEIR fascist GENERIC wait STAFF kangaroo POUCH.
Oh sorry...need to take my lithium.
André-Tascha at March 10, 2007 7:04 AM
I love the idea that it's some grudge-based memory lapse!
Amy Alkon at March 10, 2007 8:03 AM
Steve Buscemi's character, Mr. Pink, does a great job of portraying a psycho anti-tipper in the introductory scene of Reservoir Dogs. It's well worth checking out.
Somebody told me years ago that the proper way to inform a waiter/waitress that you are dissatisfied with the service is to leave a penny tip. Otherwise, it may look like you are either too cheap or too ignorant to tip.
I've only done it twice in my life of 64 years, but it has produced the desired effect of a deliberate insult both times. Other than those two occassions, I am a generous tipper. It's a hard job, and one I couldn't do at all.
Machida at March 10, 2007 8:44 AM
That's some serious anger toward waitstaff. Somebody must have peed in her kool-aid.
christina at March 10, 2007 9:34 AM
what this ding-dong doesn't know is that McD employees get a higher base salary than the waiter at the local Ruth's Chris.
Which is why the service is often shoddy at McD. They don't HAVE to care, they aren't even ALLOWED to take tips.
If you cannot be bothered to take the time to calculate a proper tip, you ought not eat out at all.
brian at March 10, 2007 10:08 AM
She eats at Chili's.
Nieve (spanish for snow) might aptly describe your skin, but never your outlook.
justin case at March 10, 2007 11:07 AM
Brian, are you the Brian who just moved to the los angeles area?
Crid at March 10, 2007 2:06 PM
I once sent an order back. I ordered the fish, and when it was brought to my table (after a very long time, actually) and I tried to stick my fork in it, the fork bounced off. It turned out that the fish was still frozen solid. I was going to ask the waitress for help on this little problem, but she didn't come by for another ten or fifteen minutes. That was one of the two times in my life that I didn't leave a tip. Needless to say, that restaurant went out of business shortly thereafter, which was unfortunate because it was pretty good most of the rest of the time.
Bob G at March 10, 2007 4:14 PM
I don't tip bartenders much, either- I tipped them enough when I was a waitress. When we rang up our total sales at the end of the night, a percentage was automatically calculated for tipping the bar- regardless of whether our customer had drinks. To add further insult to injury, bartenders get a much higher base salary than waiters.
That said, I think people like that letter-writer like to eat out so they can boss someone around, and deny tips for a further sense of power. Get from the tone of the letter? How DARE that waitress chit-chat with her customer while she should have been jumping at every request of the letter writer! I'm sure she's a very unhappy person. Ooops- did I assume the letter-writer is female? For shame!
Allison at March 10, 2007 4:18 PM
Well, it appears you're just NIEVE and you should APOLOGIE!~
Sorry, couldn't help it. ;-)
Jennifer at March 10, 2007 9:55 PM
BTW, I got my first nut this week, too- and my second and third. Full moon, maybe?
Jennifer at March 10, 2007 10:20 PM
Someone sounds like a spoiled child, ranting on and on about what she believes is due to her.
For someone who thinks a waitress or waiter should work so dilligently to earn a few extra bucks, she should consider the notion that MAYBE, just MAYBE she should be working a little harder and being a decent, likable human being. Then perhaps she can earn other's respect, and we'll actually give a damn about how enjoyable her experience is.
Someone needs to work in food service.
It's quite possibly the least gratifying, most exhausting, and under-appreciated service you can provide.
Gertie at March 11, 2007 8:16 AM
I stand by my earlier post: If you eat in good restaurants, you shouldn't have these kinds of problems. Note that I didn't say "expensive", or "fancy." I said "good."
I am heartily sorry for people who consider themselves to be agents of retribution. Constantly looking for ways to punish people for disappointing you is a hell of a way to go through life.
Save your energy for taking care of yourself, and those that help you in that endeavor. All this bile and gratuitious use of asteriks over a lost appetizer? Let it the fuck go.
(I say all this because, of course, I am a recovering freak-out-artist from way back, and posting things like this is one of the ways that I remind myself not to backslide.)
Harriet at March 11, 2007 9:57 PM
I think I had dinner at the same restaurant as her last night? HER HUSBAND was talking on his cell phone and she was looking at every waiter and then scribbling in a notebook. Looked like they were having a great time!
Amy, let us know if you dig anything up on all the little quirky things people do now that email is a primary way for people to communicate. For instance "MY HUSBAND AND I", I couldn't tell what the hell that had to do with the rant, but she was obviously trying to tell us something???
Tara at March 11, 2007 11:42 PM
Unbelievable. It's nice that you give readers an opportunity to comment about your posts. Whether they agree or disagree, they could at least have some respect. This person is a total coward and would probably never speak like that to your face, or to anyone's face for that matter.
amber at March 12, 2007 5:48 AM
That's my feeling, too.
Amd regarding service being good in "in nice restaurants," I get nice service most places I go. Gregg and I go to a local diner, and the waitress there loved us from the start. A lot of it is just treating the server like a person -- like a neighbor -- instead of like "the help." This doesn't mean you have them sit down with you or anything, just that you're pleasant with them like they're somebody you know. I try to treat everybody that way -- until they shout into a cell phone or practically run me down (and I even yelled at Julia Roberts and some bearded guy driving her Prius -- no celebrity pass with me -- for doing that thing where they hurry you across the street by rolling toward you). "Not appropriate driving!" I shouted. Welcome to the neighborhood.
Amy Alkon at March 12, 2007 6:00 AM
At "good" (not "nice") restaurants, customers like this one are escorted to the door by the manager on duty, because employers want their good help to stay on the job.
Years ago I was working in a popular restaurant while a street fair was going on out front. Every employee in the restaurant was literally running to keep up with the crowd at the door, when suddenly a family of 4 skipped the hostess and seated themselves at one of my EIGHT tables along the sidewalk (still covered in dirty plates from the customers who had vacated the table about 1.8 seconds prior). They sat there watching the chaos around them for a good 10 minutes while I frantically ran food out from the kitchen (more than 100 feet away) and filled drink orders from people who had been seated before them.
Finally, the peeved lady of the group, a mother of 2 young children watching her every move and memorizing it to be modeled later, literally grabbed my arm and demanded to be served drinks at once. I explained to her that I still had 2 tables of customers who had been seated before them who didn't have drinks yet, and that I would get to her as soon as I possibly could. She started cursing at me (in front of her children!) and threatened to have my job terminated.
In language I have never used with a customer before or since, I told her that I didn't appreciate her attitude and treatment of me, and she could just f**king leave. Then I went inside and, on my way out again with my arms full of food, yelled out to my boss that I had just cursed at someone and told her to leave.
When the customer tracked down my boss and complained about me, my boss backed me up completely and told the customer that she didn't allow customers to abuse her staff, no matter how frustrated they were.
Then she brought me a shot of Baileys and told me I was doing a good job under very difficult circumstances, and that she appreciated it.
No one, no matter how bad the service is and how lowly the job, deserves to be on the other end of a lunatic's rant.
Tess at March 12, 2007 7:40 AM
By the way, I neglected to mention that I received excellent tips that day from all the other customers, all normal people who appreciated the circumstances and the smile I kept on my face through it all.
Fortunately, the lunatics are few and far between.
Tess at March 12, 2007 7:44 AM
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