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I have discovered that the Monday night dinner rush is not unlike the Spanish Inquisition: unexpected.
It's also not unlike the non-Monty Python version: brutal, and with a sudden end.
Though I do wish I'd had a comfy chair.
And guys? Don't stiff your waitress, especially after she's busted her ass for you in a visibly busy restaurant. If you don't have enough money to tip, then please don't go out to eat - you'll be taking up tables and time we could use to actually make money for ourselves. We have to make a living too.
I had a table tonight - mom, dad, squalling small child - that kept inquiring how much everything was. When the tab came - $25.41 - they handed me a $25 gift card and admitted that they "hadn't expected there to be tax," so they "didn't have any cash." Instead of recommending they use a credit card - which I should have done, though I doubt they had one of those either - I covered the gorram $.41 myself (not sure if I was being "too nice" or just sleep deprived). Of course, I got no tip. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not acceptable restaurant behavior.
The other table that stiffed me...well, I have no idea why. They seemed pretty satisfied to me.
But! The night was not a bust. Other tables were considerate and patient (especially the table that asked me to break a $100 bill for a $35 tab) and several kitchen mistakes were made, so I got fed. We make some awesome chimichangas, I tell you what. The manager then told us all he was buying us beer, since we were half staffed (Monday night, remember) and we all kept our cool and did well. I forewent the beer - I was already tired and figured that was bad kismet when I was the one driving me home - and he bought me dessert instead, so now there is Kahlua Ice Cream Pie in the freezer for dessert tomorrow, which is my day off. Oh, yes, the night was not a bust at all.
Also, there is more EBA fic to be had - check![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
en_ecrivant. Wonder if I should start putting these up on dA. Thoughts?
It's also not unlike the non-Monty Python version: brutal, and with a sudden end.
Though I do wish I'd had a comfy chair.
And guys? Don't stiff your waitress, especially after she's busted her ass for you in a visibly busy restaurant. If you don't have enough money to tip, then please don't go out to eat - you'll be taking up tables and time we could use to actually make money for ourselves. We have to make a living too.
I had a table tonight - mom, dad, squalling small child - that kept inquiring how much everything was. When the tab came - $25.41 - they handed me a $25 gift card and admitted that they "hadn't expected there to be tax," so they "didn't have any cash." Instead of recommending they use a credit card - which I should have done, though I doubt they had one of those either - I covered the gorram $.41 myself (not sure if I was being "too nice" or just sleep deprived). Of course, I got no tip. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not acceptable restaurant behavior.
The other table that stiffed me...well, I have no idea why. They seemed pretty satisfied to me.
But! The night was not a bust. Other tables were considerate and patient (especially the table that asked me to break a $100 bill for a $35 tab) and several kitchen mistakes were made, so I got fed. We make some awesome chimichangas, I tell you what. The manager then told us all he was buying us beer, since we were half staffed (Monday night, remember) and we all kept our cool and did well. I forewent the beer - I was already tired and figured that was bad kismet when I was the one driving me home - and he bought me dessert instead, so now there is Kahlua Ice Cream Pie in the freezer for dessert tomorrow, which is my day off. Oh, yes, the night was not a bust at all.
Also, there is more EBA fic to be had - check
en_ecrivant. Wonder if I should start putting these up on dA. Thoughts?
Tags:
- eba,
- job,
- waitressing,
- writing
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From:
no subject
From:
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Colorado is typical in that full-time, regular minimum wage (for non-tipped employees) after taxes is just barely enough to cover rent and living expenses if you (a) share an apartment with someone or at least (b) don't have any student loans. Of course, receiving $3 less per hour is worse. So it's not compulsory to tip in the sense of a legal obligation, but it really hurts people if you don't.
From:
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However - and this is a pretty big however - servers in most states do not receive minimum wage (Alaska is different. No idea why). What they do receive in hourly pay is normally just barely enough to cover state and federal taxes. Any tips earned are used to cover rent, utilities, insurance payments, and any other expenses. Getting stiffed is damn painful if you're making a living off this job. For me, it's a summer gig, but it still sucks.
If you look at a server's shift, they generally have four to eight tables that are "theirs" - they serve the people who are seated at these tables. The shortest amount of time any given table will stay is twenty minutes, and most tables stay much longer than that. The server is going to do their best to give that table exemplary service. If they don't get any tips from that, that's time and energy that they cannot get back and could have spent on another table that would actually pay them. Getting stiffed is disheartening as well as a blow to the wallet.