Waitress left 2 pennies and note by customer

[csziggy]

138. Just once I left a two cent tip

I joined a group of friends at their table late one evening. As I sat down, the waitress was delivering an order to one of the people. He tried to tell her that she had another customer, she turned her back to him as he said, "Miss, --" and she walked off.

Thirty minutes later she delivered another order that had been placed at the same time as the previous one. Again the person receiving the order tried to bring to her attention that she had an additional customer, again she simply ignored him and walked off.

An hour after I had arrived, the waitress started giving tickets to the various people who had gotten orders. Two people who had been there longer than I had but who had been able to give their orders had never gotten their orders delivered, though it turned out that they had been sitting under the heat lamps for most of an hour. They opted not to accept the dried out food that had been sitting for that long and asked the waitress to give them tickets for the drinks that had been delivered. I tried to place an order, but the waitress walked off without acknowledging that I was there.

The restaurant was mostly empty, there were enough service people that they were standing around talking, but for whatever reason this waitress chose not to pay attention to any of her tables. During the time I was there she never checked the table other than the times listed above. People at our table and others nearby tried to flag her down to have their drinks refreshed, to place dessert orders, to let her know that I had joined the group. She never paid any attention to her customers at all.

When she brought back the amended tickets for the people whose orders had not been delivered - fifteen minutes after they had refused the ruined meals - she did pay attention to me - she brought me a ticket for a full meal with a soft drink. I'd never even gotten a glass of water or a place setting brought to me while I was in the place much less had the opportunity to place any order.

Rather than go through the extended time it would have taken to get that waitress's attention again, the entire group went to the cash register. I left two cents on the table where I was sitting, as a statement about her non-existent service. The people who had gotten anything served left tips, though they were understandably not generous about them.

As we were explaining to the manager at the checkout that the ticket I received was in error and that I had gotten nothing during the ninety minutes I was in the restaurant, the waitress came up and threw the two cents in my face. The manager had heard enough from our large group - he fired her on the spot. We were pretty sure he was looking for an excuse - after all for a table of 8 she had cost the restaurant two full meals - plus another potential sale since she never took my order.

I did not rip off that waitress. I got no service, nothing from her for an hour and a half while I tried to place an order. She was in the wrong line of work for her personality.

When I got out I tip very generously unless the service is really terrible. My roommate in college was a waitress - ironically at the same place where I had that bad waitress though before that incident - and I know how important tips are to wait staff. My usual tipping rate is 20-25%. If I go to Waffle House or other small cheap places, I tip 30% or better since the food is so cheap.