I eat out several times a week for the past 15 years, and I rarely stiff the help. But sometimes it is just so awful. I’d be surprised if I’ve done it more than half a dozen times. And when I do, I leave a few pennies and a nickle, or whatever, just to let them know I didn’t forget. (I have actually forgotten at places where they know me…)
But apparently a good non-crypto fascist would have left no tip and reported the surly teenage waiter to his soon to be ex-manager.
Sounds like he had it coming. On the other hand, if he were the only waiter in a really busy restaurant (which doesn’t sound like the case) it is management’s fault.
Actually, he was (as a guess) in his mid/late 20s. And again, had I been alone, I’d have probably talked to managment, if only to get a free meal or something.
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He wasn’t (alone), and in the past when I’ve had a waiter/tress stuck in the situation you describe, as long as they let me know what’s going on, I don’t mind and I certainly don’t take it out on them (assuming they have a decent attitude to ME (they can bitch about their boss all they want!))
Hmmm…but that’s not Manly-Crypto-Fascistic. Maybe I flog 'em next time. Y’think?
I think it is obvious to me that this kid meant to say “klepto fascist” . Apparently well schooled in both Marxist and Leninist thought, Surly-Boy recognizes your capitalist theft of his labor. Those 2 cents will come back at you, you fucking klepto fascist.
…it is ridiculous to claim that the U.S. is a free society. It is more accurately described as a crypto-fascist state — meaning that it’s a fascist state but that this is carefully hidden from most people (more easily done if most people do not want to know); no jackbooted torchlight parades, just the complete dominance of state power over civil liberties and the natural rights of citizens. In the U.S., despite the rhetoric and propaganda, a ruthless and authoritarian federal government has come to trample on the natural rights of the people, and many citizens, especially those that do not belong to the racial majority or do not fit in to the corporate-capitalist model of society, are imprisoned for victimless “crimes” and lose both liberty and property.
If you really want to stiff the waiter, put some pennies in a glass of water, put your hand tightly over the glass, turn it upside down, then carefully slide it onto the table. Now to get the tip, the waiter will either have to be as slick as you or make a big mess, and all they get is some wet pennies. This won’t work on a tablecloth though.
Hey, Fenris, as someone who used to supervise waitstaff, I encourage you to write a letter to management about this guy. Bets are, the supervisory staff is pretty frustrated with him, too, and your complaint (documentation!) could be helpful to them when they fire him. No discomfort for your friend (with whom I sympathize entirely) and management still hears about it.
As JDeMobray points out - he might have been a Red Dwarf fan. The 17-year-old Lister, as seen in a episode when the old Lister pays himself a visit, has the ungodly and cringeworthingly funny habit of calling everything “crypto-fascist” and snogging (French kissing) his own hand for practice. Mumbling Guy might just have been having his own private laugh. Got to get through those endless waiting shifts somehow, no matter how bad a waiter you are.
Still, Hamlet cracked me up. Crypt or fascist? Could I take a half a Hitler and a tombstone?
Not long after my wife and I were married, may parents came to visit and we went to eat at a place with like service as you describe. My wife actually just went and refilled our drinks on her own, bypassing the lazy waiter. To top it off we were the only ones in the place, so there was no excuses good enough to explain their behavior.
When we left, we all left a quarter. Bird side up. Don’t know if the waiter understood we “flipped him the bird”, but we felt better.