Wait staff - would you really, seriously, tamper with a customer's food?

[Bunny]

I see an awful lot of comments to that effect everytime we have a tipping flame war, but honestly, would you do this to a customer? I worked my way through college as a waitress and bartender, my own daughter is currently a waitress, and I almost always tip at least 20% - so I'm not some cheap prick who doesn't know what it's like to work for a living.

But even under the worst of circumstances, with the dickiest of customers, I would have never dreamed of hocking up a loogie and spitting it into someone's food, or wiping my ass with their toast, or whatever other things people claim they've seen, done, heard about, etc. Nor would any of the other kitchen staff I worked with.

So tell me: have you ever personally, actually done anything like this? :shrug:

[mcctatas]

1. as tempted as I was at times, I would never do anything like what

you have described above. I did however short pour assholes when I was bartending and I accidentally on purpose spilled water on the lap of a customer who slapped my ass when I was waitressing :P

[Bunny]

5. Nothing wrong with shorting a dickhead on his drink. And I once "spilled" a drink

on some ass who hassled me while I was behind the bar. I'm right there with you on that, sister! :)

[trof]

2. I don't want to read this thread.

If I did, I'd probably never eat at a restaurant again.
:-(

[Bunny]

3. Actually, I don't really expect anyone to answer in the affirmative.

I think that most people would not admit to it, because they know it's completely unacceptable no matter what the alleged provocation.

[LynneSin]

56. TOO LATE

:woohoo:

[Richardo]

4. In my considerable career as a pizza cook and busboy in high school, no.

But then again I'm a well-known conformist milquetoast.

:hi: Bun!

[Bunny]

7. Plus, I can't imagine that wiping your ass with a slice of pizza would be all that comfortable.

You are my favorite milquetoast, baby! :loveya:

[Richardo]

9. You think melted cheese on the roof of your mouth hurts?

:scared:



:loveya:

[lunatica]

6. Hell no! But I belonged to a union and only worked in union restaurants

I've seen waiters and waitresses get up in arms in the kitchen when they see someone try to pick food off the floor to put it back on a plate to serve a customer, or do things like put the little shrimp fork in their mouths while they're busy using both hands to get lemons or whatever. In the restaurants I worked what fell on the floor was only picked up to be throw away and clean the floor (no one wants to slip on greasy food!)

[Bunny]

8. I saw food that got sent back to the kitchen rinsed off and sent right back out, and any other

number of scary things, but never deliberate tampering with bodily fluids or other by-products.

[Blue Diadem]

15. I saw things picked up off the floor and dropped back in the fryer to "kill" the germs.

Insisted on by the management. If I dropped it, I'd kick it under the nearby work table and pitch it when the boss wasn't around. That was at a deli that served hot lunches.

I worked as a greeter/cashier/supervisor of sorts at a truckstop/travel plaza. I'd only get back into the kitchen a couple of times per shift, but I'm sure someone would have told me if anything was done deliberately since I had to write nightly reports of all customer complaints and restaurant incidents(ie: drunk waitress, drunk cook, dishwasher throwing filthy water around, people swiping tips etc)

I also remember my son telling me they had to re-drop food that fell too. He worked as a cook through HS and a year or so of his college years at a neighborhood restaurant.

Deliberate tampering, no, but quite a few questionable things at the deli.

[Bunny]

18. Fryers are known sanitizers.

:eyes:

:scared:

[Blue Diadem]

26. Gordon Ramsey had a kitchen nightmare episode

where a cook picked up food from the floor and was going to "sanitize" it. You can imagine Ramsey's reaction. Too bad he can't get into that deli I worked at. He'd be swearing his head off.

There are a few places I no longer visit, the deli and the neighborhood restaurant.

[laylah]

10. I would never tamper with

the food but I may short them :evilgrin:

[Bunny]

13. Sometimes people really do earn that!

[GOPisEvil]

11. I can tell you that Brianna from Denny's would NEVER do that.

:D

[Bunny]

12. She would throw an extra pound of meat on *your* burger!

:hi:

[GOPisEvil]

24. So many inappropriate comments, so little time.

:hi:

[Throd]

14. If you were rude to my crew I would wipe your hamburger buns against my scrotum.

Have a little testicle sweat with your burger you drunken prick.

[NightWatcher]

21. I thought that I was the only one to answer in the affirmative

I've worked at several restaurants, but only one or two where there was a good chance that you would get something "extra" in your food if you deserved it. Never be rude to the wait staff.

[swag]

39. You and your "extra" buddies belong in jail, asshole.

[swag]

38. Get a different job then, asshole.

You belong in jail if you are polluting people's food.

[Throd]

51. Oooh, thats two swipes for you Spanky.

[Deep13]

52. And your restaurant is...?

I'd like to avoid it.

Rudeness is a pretty subjective standard. How do you know the customer does not have an anxiety disorder that makes him or her unable to tell the highly nuanced difference between acceptable and unacceptable social behavior?

What you are suggesting, of course, is criminal assault. (A harmful or offensive touching or contact.) If you cannot deal with the public without juvenile passive-aggressive revenge stunts, you don't belong at that job.

[Throd]

53. That was in 1985, but 18 year olds are doing this today.

If we made a mistake on an order we would apologize and correct it immediately.

There is a sliding scale of rudeness. Expressing annoyance regarding the food or service was taken in stride. But when you come in drunk, use personal insults and threats at the staff with a lot of obscenities thrown in, you're getting ball sweat on your buns. If you can't handle yourself in a fast food restaurant without behaving like a complete and total jackass then you should eat at home.

Look, I'm not really defending what I did. But in the real world if you are a disrespectful jerk to teenagers making minimum wage expect collateral damage.

[flvegan]

16. Depends on the party. Cuz if it's gonna be THAT kind of party

I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes.

[Bunny]

17. Yeah, but you're only doing that because you like it.

It has nothing to do with the customer's attitude! :D

[TZ]

19. Tater holer!

:rofl:

[DS1]

27. That was actually Octomom

[flvegan]

28. Taht is

the most...wrong thing...aw fuck it :rofl:

[DS1]

33. score!

:evilgrin:

[XemaSab]

41. .

:thumbsup:

[Marrah_G]

50. I hate you Flvegan !

You made me snarf my coffee.


:rofl:

[Shell Beau]

20. I do know some jackasses that spit in people's food.

They didn't do it to just anyone, but if the person was dick-ish, the may have gotten a little something extra. Some people are just immature assholes.

[LynneSin]

55. So that's what I am?

Or perhaps I was just pissed because of that dick-ish behavior was so fricking killing me that my other customers were also getting bad service because I had to spend 75% of my time catering to one asshole know was already a notoriously bad tipper

[Noodleboy13]

22. Tempted. Never done it.

Even the friendly neighborhood date-rapist got clean food. Overcooked, underseasoned and poorly presented food, but clean.


btw. Mashed potatoes are generally kept around 170F. just sayin.


peace
Noodleboy

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. No, but I'd fantasize about it.

[tinkerbell41]

25. Never

In 23 yrs of rest biz I would NEVER do it. Going into the kitchen and letting fly with a string of
profanity was more my thing it felt good to say what I was thinking. The cooks always loved it!
I have witnessed food tampering in my day though. Only the male waiters would do it, I don't know why.

[yewberry]

29. Waited tables & tended bar for many years. Never did that.

In fact, I don't think I ever saw anyone do it, either. I have seen stuff end up in food that shouldn't ever be there, but it was never on purpose.

[tigereye]

30. nope -and I was a waitress in college and also worked as a grill monkey

that's just rude and infantile. No call for it.

[blogslut]

31. No

I waited tables for 14 years and never did things to a customer's food or drink. To do so would make me worse than them. My method of dealing with lousy customers was to kill them with kindness.

[Rhythm]

32. Nope, nor have i seen it done in person...

I've worked in restaurants off and on since high school, and dealt with the whole spectrum of assholes and such.

I may have thought about it--loudly even with trusted co-workers--but i would never have actually done it.

[Mojambo]

34. Have I? No. Would I? Yes.

It would probably take more than a person simply stiffing me on a tip, but if a Limbaugh, O'Reilly or Beck were the customer... Absolutely. And it wouldn't be something as innocent as a little bit of saliva.

[UTUSN]

35. Dearest wait staff, PLEASE answer "NO" to the o.p.'s question. THANKS!1 n/t

[Xipe Totec]

36. I have nothing but deep respect for wait staff

Seriously.

I know that when service is poor, it is not the wait staff's fault, it it management's fault.

I may not patronize the establishment again, but I never stiff the wait staff.

That's just the way it is.

[polly7]

37. Never, ever, ever.

I worked as a waittress and once I got old enough as a bartender and then waittress again for a long time, and wouldn't even consider it no matter how nasty the customer got. That's just horrible.

[donheld]

40. If it's a right winger

I sprinkle fairy dust on it.

[ZombieHorde]

42. Always. 100% of the plates I put out have an extra touch. Hot kitchen = lots of ball sweat.

Just kidding, I have never been a waiter.

[mix]

43. who has time to do so? oh, and no never n/t

[Dammit Ann]

44. Never.

[Richard Steele]

45. Them folks what likes to sow wind, they reap the whirlwind.

And that's all I have to say about that.

[DarkTirade]

46. I had to deal with more than my share of jerks, assholes and scammers when I worked

at a pizza place... but I never crossed that line.

[Chan790]

47. Kind of...

I used to give the people who treated me poorly decaf. I've also made intentional mistakes like serving rude customers flat or over-frothy milk or using espresso shots that were old. Rarely, if I knew someone had a long car trip ahead of them, I'd over caffeinated their beverage.

Never anything disgusting with bodily fluids or stuff off the floors or anything.

[justabob]

48. I have never seen it happen

in any of the restaurants I have worked at. I have seen staff grab fries off a plate in the window, but that is the worst.... and has absolutely nothing to do with the customers, just obnoxious and hungry waiters.

Now if there are campers sitting around not letting us turn tables, I HAVE witnessed "crop dusting", and similar stunts to get people to leave, but that is a different thing, and has nothing to do with the food. :)

[Iggo]

49. You're confusing wait-staff with fast-food workers.

I've done both.

It's the fast-food workers you have to worry about. Do not fuck with a gang of underpaid pist-off teenagers.

[LynneSin]

54. I use to waitress and I'll gladly admit that I have

Most of the time it's something minor like slowing service. If notoriously bad tippers/customers would show up to the restaurant, anyone stuck with them would make it a point to provide less than quality service - either by taking longer than normal to get their order or perhaps letting their food wait a bit before taking it out (so it was cold & dried out from the heat lamp).

I have once spit a hocker in a cappucino. This guy not only was a bad tipper but he was borderline abusive to whomever waited on him, like we were servants or something. One particularly bad time he was just horrible (oddly enough his friends were really nice and tipped well - sometimes they would leave an extra tip when they knew his friend was screwing us over). He was in by himself and ordered the swordfish. After eating about 90% of it he decided it wasn't that good and wanted his money back. He would also keep screaming "WAITER WAITER" at the top of his lungs and was just overall annoying. So one night myself and the bartender hacked a spitball and mixed it into his cappucino. He liked it so much and ordered a 2nd.