I was "pre-tipped" last night at a table

[Maine-ah]

So, this is kind of odd.

Last night I waited on a party of 5. They wanted to tweak some menu items to suit their tastes, and I gave them some suggestions, which they really appreciated. Mom was impressed with her drink too. So the girls (in their 20's) said to Dad...Dad, pull out your cash and pre-tip the waitress...I must have had a confused look on my face, because they then explained it to me that this is the newest trend. "Pre-tipping" is when you know you have a damn good server, and the customer will give you some cash before the end of the meal. Their Dad handed me 8 bucks, which I then went and split with the bartender. They were very pleased at the end of their meal, along with the other 2 people that joined them in the middle of dinner that I made 40 dollars from the group.

They ended up doubling what I made last night. Many of my tips were pretty bad, for no reason. We were not busy, and I put out the same exceptional service that my managers (and customers) are always praising me for. I had several checks that were over 80 dollars, and people were leaving just over 10%.

I'm glad they came in, they made my night.