thirtysomething...

So today John & I went to The Noisy Oyster on East Bay Street for lunch. Mainly because right across the street there's a candy shop & everyone at work was craving Teh Sugar. Had to wait about 15 minutes for a table 'cause there was a cruise ship in town. The food was pretty good and the service was on par with lunchtime service. Our sweet teas were always filled, except for the last when it was unsweetened, tables were clean, yada yada yada. John & I split an appetizer of Fried Gator Tails. I had fried clams & shrimp for the entree while John had a burger or something similar. Ate. Got the checks & sent them off with payment to the waitress. John paid with a credit card & I laid down cash.

So here's the actual point of the story:
My bill was $20.57. Our waitress, who shall remain nameless, brought John's CC slip for him to sign and then disappeared. One would think I would have some change arriving...I gave the woman a twenty and a five. Nope. No Change. Normally I'm a good tipper. On average I'll leave 20 percent if nothing was messed up, didn't have to ask for drinks, etc, so I was ready to leave her 3.50 or so. We waited atleast 10 minutes... the tip getting smaller and smaller. Finally she came by the table, not to ask if we needed anything else, but only in passing. I said, "Excuse me (insert waitress's name.) Where's my change?"

"I thought you didn't want any," she replied with an angry look upon her face and turned around to go to the register.

I looked at John and was like "WTF? Are you kidding? Did you see that? She thought 25 percent was OK? And didn't even ask if I needed change??" He's sitting there laughing his ass off. :shakeshead: She returns with my change ($4.50) and stomps off. Riiiiight. We're already late to get back to work and still HAVE to go to the candy store, cause everyone was craving Teh Sugar. John stands up, "Let's go, finally." He's still laughing. I stand up and throw a buck and a quarter on the table. Argh.

We still went to the Charleston Candy Store across the street. Didn't buy anything though. There was a crazy woman, that I've known as a customer from other jobs and try to avoid at all costs, handing out glazed pecan clusters and I was still very pissed about the Waitress. Not to worry though, there were still Chocolate Chocolate cookies left from a trip to the Harris Teeter way before lunch. :D

ATTN: Waitstaff of the World
Do not assume that ANY of the change is for your tip. And really don't tell me you assumed it was so. It is MY decision and MY decision only (unless it's a party of 6 or more...) on what tip I leave. Especially freakin 25 percent. I don't care if you've been getting crappy tips all day (I noticed other staff frowning when they would count the money). Maybe there's an issue as to why your tips are low. Pull that crap and you're lucky you got a buck and a quarter. Treat me with respect from the minute I walk in the door to the minute I'm back out the door and you'll always get what you deserve, most times more. If not, then you're lucky to get anything more than a bad note in my blog with a link to your restaurant.