Diners Called 'Fat Girls' On Check

[MADem]

98. Back in the dark ages, before computers and automated receipts, I used to wait on tables.

We had to physically write out the orders on pieces of paper and provide them to the chefs, who would then prepare the food for delivery to the customers. The chefs would return the pieces of paper to us with the cooked food. When the diners were finished, we had to add up all the items (in our heads) and put the subtotal on the bottom, figure out the tax, add all that together for a grand total and provide the paper to the customer. The customer would then figure out how much to tip us, and they'd leave that on the table while paying at the register. No one used credit cards back then (it was the real dark ages). Cash was king.

The way I kept track of who's who in the zoo on a pocketful of tabs was to write something called the TABLE NUMBER in the right hand corner of the tab.

I guess this whole "table number" concept is too hard for the "computer receipt" set to figure out?

It worked real well, though--I never had to write "Fat girls" or "Old guy" or "Obnoxious family with four kids with green snot coming out of their noses..." I never lost a tip because I had a need to personally insult a customer in order to remember who ordered the clams casino!

TABLE NUMBERS! What a concept!