Some of my coworkers and I met for lunch at a local restaurant Friday. What was supposed to be an extended get together for lunch turned out to be a less-than-pleasant experience. Our waitress was rude and attitudinal. I overlooked my first encounter with her, thinking that I might have just misinterpreted her behavior. However, by the second time she came to our table, I couldn't mistake her actions. After she left our table again, I turned to my coworkers and asked them, "Is it just me, or does our waitress seem to be rude today?"
They confirmed my suspicians. Two of them stated right then that they were not going to leave a tip. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. We all have bad days, and maybe she was having one herself, maybe not realizing that it was affecting her demeanor. I debated as to whether to leave a note of encouragement with the tip so that maybe she'd realize how she was acting. I thought about directly asking her about her mood ... something like, "You seem to be having a bad day. Are you going to be okay?" On the other hand, I had another observation that I kept to myself: I wondered if the waitress was being rude to my other coworkers because they were black. I was the only white person at the table, but I still got the same rude treatment.
The third time our waitress came to our table, it was to clean up behind one of our coworkers who had to leave to go back to work. Not once did she look at us or ask us if we wanted anything else ... not even a refill on our drinks. By that time, I had casually observed how she interacted with other people in the restaurant. She was pleasant to the other customers, but not to anyone at our table. That is when I realized that she wasn't having a bad day, she was being deliberately being rude to us. As much leeway as I was trying to give her, even that crossed the line with me.
After she left, two more at our table left to return to work. My supervisor and I were the only ones left. He proceeded to write out a check for his meal ... without adding a tip. I still wasn't finished eating, so he told me he'd see me back at work in a little while. He walked up to the cashier, paid for his meal, and left. Shortly afterward, I finished eating, wrote out a check to pay for my meal ... without adding a tip ... and went to the cashier to pay for my meal. Just as I was starting to stand up, the waitress came back to clear off our table. She didn't say good-bye, see you later, come back soon, kiss my butt .... nothing!
As I approached the cashier to pay for my meal, I told her that I didn't really want to say anything, but I had a complaint about our waitress being rude to us at our table. The cashier surprised me with her response: she said that our waitress had already told her about us. I raised my eyebrows in surprise as she continued to tell me that our waitress told her that we don't tip.
HUH???
Although I was taken aback by the response, I tried to remain civil. "Okay, I cannot speak for the other people at my table ... they are my coworkers and they were nice enough to let me join them for lunch. However, I have always left a tip when I've eaten here before. This is the first time I haven't, and it is only because I was put off by her behavior." The cashier tried to assure me that the waitress probably didn't mean it personally toward me, but she said the other people at my table do not leave tips.
My response was, "Well, I didn't want to say anything, and I didn't know if my supervisor said anything before he left." The cashier said, "You mean that man that just left? No, he doesn't tip, either."
I thought about that for a couple of seconds. What she said was a lie. I've eaten with him before at that same restaurant, and I've seen him leave tips. He is well known in town, so the fact that she wrongfully associated him as being a non-tipper bothered me. However, it was obvious I was not going to be able to convince her that she was wrong. I said my goodbye and left the restaurant to return to work.
I informed my supervisor of what the cashier said. How did he react? Can you say LIVID? He immediately went to his office to call the restaurant to speak to the owner; he got the same cashier I spoke with earlier. I didn't hear the entire conversation, but it was obvious the cashier was getting "an earful." There was another coworker in my office who heard the same thing I did, We both were looking at each other with eyes wide open. I kept saying with a degree of remorse, "Oh shoot, he's pissed! Oh shoot, he's pissed!" He told me that he didn't get the owner, but he would let him know next week about the situation. Knowing that something I told him made him angry, I told him that I didn't mean to upset him or make him angry. He reassured me that I did the right thing. I hope so. I'm not the kind of person who likes to stir things up and get everyone upset.
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