# Bad tippers. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 8, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747 "2009-03-08T18:29:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Springs1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Springs1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springs1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/401 "2009-03-18T02:15:40Z")
> [@Kat](#): > > How do you know that your food and their food was ready at the same time? Maybe she had finished the salads, and was just about to take them out when your food finished up? In that scenario, the salads won, and should rightly have been served first. They were on the SAME TRAY if you READ my posts. Imagine a tray with 2 sides salads and 2 hot entrees. They were both ready at the same time. She brought them out at the same exact time. Salads wouldn’t win if someone’s hot food is ready. Salads would be after, because the people that placed their order first, should get theirs delivered first, plain and simple. That’s only fair. > [@Kat](#): > > And I tipped extra if they brought refills without me having to ask. . Can you I ask you: WHY don’t you tell your server you like that type of service such as: "I would love it if I could get automatic refills without asking throughtout my service. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/402 "2009-03-18T02:20:45Z")
You missed my point. In the salad/entree scenario, the waitress was nice enough to grab the just come up entrees and put them on the tray with the salads, so entree-person didn’t have to wait. Because to take just the salads, and then go back for the entrees would be **incredibly STUPID** and waste time. And why don’t I tell my server that? Because I don’t think I’m the center of the server’s universe. ---
**Author:** ![Springs1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Springs1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springs1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/403 "2009-03-18T02:22:11Z")
> [@Hakuna\_Matata](#): > > that is NOT what I said. Your steak is done–it is sittiing under the warmer, slowly getting cold. My steak is still cooking. So if you wait until my steak is done, your steak will be cold. You are okay with that because it is fair. Is that a true statement? NO, because as I said before, you have to WAIT for yours. If your steak is still cooking, WHY would you expect our server to just stand there when she could be bringing someone’s cooked food out as you said “Mine took half the time”, so by the time you get yours, it’s 15 minutes later let’s say. It would be fair, because you wanted something that takes much longer to cook, so you get to wait longer. HOW is that unfair if yours isn’t ready yet? It would be unfair if yours and mine were ready at the same time, on the same tray and the server would hand mine first instead of yours. It would be unfair also if let’s say turn things around, that yours was ready before mine by 2 minutes, but decided to wait that 2 minutes to take both out on the same tray. The server should go to deliver yours, then when mine is ready, deliver mine. Letting it sit there for 2 minutes would be stupid and making your food get cool. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/404 "2009-03-18T02:24:40Z")
> [@Springs1](#): > > Can you I ask you: WHY don’t you tell your server you like that type of service such as: "I would love it if I could get automatic refills without asking throughtout my service. How would you feel, out of curiosity, if someone said “Look, I’m not going to tip you/tip more than a dollar or two, and I’m quite happy if you don’t do anything more than just take my order, bring me my meal, and then bring the bill at the end of the meal. Please don’t come and ask if I want refills or how everything is going; if there’s a problem I’ll let you know. And I don’t mind if you bring other people their food first as long as my meal doesn’t go cold in the meantime”? You see, to me, that’s more than fair, but I expect most of you will probably disagree… ---
**Author:** ![Springs1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Springs1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springs1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/405 "2009-03-18T02:26:03Z")
> [@Kat](#): > > You missed my point. In the salad/entree scenario, the waitress was nice enough to grab the just come up entrees and put them on the tray with the salads, so entree-person didn’t have to wait. Because to take just the salads, and then go back for the entrees would be **incredibly STUPID** and waste time. > > And why don’t I tell my server that? Because I don’t think I’m the center of the server’s universe. Since she didn’t just take the side salads, she COULD HAVE HANDED THE FOOD OUT IN THE ORDER IN WHICH IT WAS ORDERED, THOUGH! There is NO EXCUSE in this world for that type of behavior from another human being that wants to get paid and is at the whim of customers. None of this has to do with being center of the universe. This has to do with being fair. If it would have been the opposite situation, I would have HONESTLY HOPED that couple would have received their hot entrees before our side salads if we would have been that couple with the side salads. That’s the right thing to do. When I do see servers doing things in our favor out of order, they get bonus points in their tip, because they did things in the wrong order, but it benefitted me. I cannot control that they did that though. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/406 "2009-03-18T02:27:54Z")
> [@Springs1](#): > > NO, because as I said before, you have to WAIT for yours. If your steak is still cooking, WHY would you expect our server to just stand there when she could be bringing someone’s cooked food out as you said “Mine took half the time”, so by the time you get yours, it’s 15 minutes later let’s say. It would be fair, because you wanted something that takes much longer to cook, so you get to wait longer. > > HOW is that unfair if yours isn’t ready yet? It would be unfair if yours and mine were ready at the same time, on the same tray and the server would hand mine first instead of yours. It would be unfair also if let’s say turn things around, that yours was ready before mine by 2 minutes, but decided to wait that 2 minutes to take both out on the same tray. The server should go to deliver yours, then when mine is ready, deliver mine. Letting it sit there for 2 minutes would be stupid and making your food get cool. But I ordered first and thus based on your logic should get my food first. Why should you get your food before me? It isn’t my fault that my food takes longer. You should have ordered something else. Isn’t that the moral thing to do based on your logic? Don’t you have any decency? How am “I” to know your steak is only done medium and takes less time then mine? All I see is YOU are getting your steak BEFORE me. And based again on your logic that is unfair. Or maybe you need to step back and realize that YOU don’t know shit about running a restaurant and nobody will ever do things the way you are suggesting. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/407 "2009-03-18T02:30:46Z")
> [@Kat](#): > > So, you want the server to go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forthand back and forthand back and forthand back and forthand back and forthand back and forthand back and forthand back and forthand back and forth, instead of just bringing everything in as few trips as possible, thus to make _ **EVERYONE’S** _ wait for _ **EVERYTHING** _ (drinks, taking order, getting served, getting refills, getting checks) **INCLUDING YOUR OWN WAIT** TEN TIMES AS LONG? Have I got that right? > > Good. All you servers, do that from now on. For everyone. There, problem solved. And **Springs1** can now never again complain about waiting for anyting at a restaurant. > [@Kat](#): > > Did I do the capital-y bold-y asterisk-y thingy right? Too many asterisks. And I’m going to have to reduce your tip because you made **Springs1** wait while you were typing that. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/408 "2009-03-18T02:33:16Z")
I couldn’t even guess how many times I’ve eaten out during my life, and also how many times a server has walked up with a really big tray, set it down between our table and someone else’s, and served them first. I honestly don’t remember ever noticing, or even thinking about whether they got theirs first. All I think is “oh goody, food’s here!” I’m also sure I’ve never noticed we were the one’s served first. I call it “sport dining.” Customers who don’t seem to even care if they eat. They have a different agenda. They want company. They want someone to be mean to, they want to be really picky and critical; it’s like they use servers for what’s missing in their life. Now I can add this eery waiter fairness watching. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/409 "2009-03-18T02:33:37Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > Too many asterisks. And I’m going to have to reduce your tip because you made **Springs1** wait while you were typing that. That and she forgot my water. I for one can not believe how selfish **Kat** is. Well to be honest I am trying to determine if she/he has any morals or is just lazy. But I have deduced two percentage points off the tip to date. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/410 "2009-03-18T02:36:54Z")
Maybe Red Lobster should be renamed FAIR LOBSTER. ---
**Author:** ![Springs1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Springs1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springs1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/411 "2009-03-18T02:39:09Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > I greet you, and ask what you want to drink. While taking your drink order, I see the hostess seating me at another table of mine. I make a note to go there after getting your drinks. You and your husband both get margaritas (even if you don’t like margaritas, just bear with me and assume you ordered them.) I go to the computer and ring in two margaritas. Even if the bartender isn’t busy and has no other drinks to make or people to wait on at the bar, it will take a couple minutes for him to make them. It will take me less time than that to go to the second table and get their drink order. Is it ok if I do that? I mean…I’m still going in order. YOU ordered a drink, then THEY order a drink. I will still bring your drink out first, then theirs. Or do you have to have your drink before I even greet them? What if the bartender is REALLY busy, and it might take five minutes before your drink is up. Do I still have to wait that whole time before even greeting that next table? If I do greet them, and they only want water, which I can get in 30 seconds while your margaritas STILL AREN’T READY, am I allowed to bring them out, or does everyone have to wait just because you don’t have your drinks yet, and aren’t able to get them through no fault of mine. If the drink is not ready, then WHY would I expect you to do nothing? You cannot bring me my drink, but you know what, we have had servers even though the bartender was backed up or busy, still come to the table to see if we were ready to order. It depends how long we waited for you to come back. If it’s like 2 minutes, I don’t expect you to come back, but if it’s like 5 minutes I would. I wouldn’t expect you to have to serve our margaritas first before greeting them. That’s absurd! > [@bouv](#): > > I do everything right, according to you. I greet you, get a drink order, bring the drinks, and give you a few more minutes to look over the menu if you need it. I greet the next table, and do the same thing. I go back to you, you order, and you get items that might take a little longer. Well done steaks, or even a medium rare steak, but it’s out biggest, thickest one, so it takes longer. I go to the computer and enter it, so it IS ordered first, then go to table two and take their order. They all get rare steaks, or are just getting appetizers as entrees, or fried food…ie, the all order food that takes half as much time, or less, to cook than yours. When there’s inevitably gets done before yours. is it ok to bring it out while it’s still hot, or do I have to wait for it to get cold so you can get your food FIRST, just because you ordered it first ,even though it’s done second? You don’t understand. I am ONLY talking about things that the SERVER can control once the food and drinks are ready as far as things prepared by other co-workers and I am also talking about things the server can get themselves like refills or the check or extra napkins or utensils. I am NOT talking about that you would have to do nothing until the hot food is done. That’s insane to do such a thing. I am talking about if you have let’s say 4 soft drinks(2 for one party, 2 for another party) on a tray, when you hand them out, you hand them out in the order in which they were taken in. Things like that is what I am talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/412 "2009-03-18T02:45:00Z")
This is almost as good as the \*\*Gonzo \*\*thread. This one isn’t quite long enough, but I have to give \*\*Springs1 \*\*some credit. At least she posts relatively coherently, even though I do picture her waving her arms, jumping up and down madly, and periodically throwing herself on the floor, kicking and screaming. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/413 "2009-03-18T02:47:20Z")
You know, it just occurred to me we’re still in IMHO. There’s not a whole lot of humble going on here, though. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/414 "2009-03-18T02:47:50Z")
With a large tray with 2 hot dinners and 2 salads, I would definitely have served the hot dinners first. Not because it was “fair” but because it was right. Hot food cools off and gets gross quickly, salads can sit on the tray longer without suffering ill effects (within reason, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Springs1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Springs1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springs1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/415 "2009-03-18T02:49:05Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Springs1, I just wanted to point this section out for you. So the situation is this. A waitress comes by another table and says “good evening folks. If you’ll hold on just a minute I’ll be with you shortly.” Then she comes to your table and take your drink order. This is unfair, you say. It’s unfair because 1) the waitress went to another table first, however briefly and 2) it could have led to the potential that the other table starts ordering, thus elongating your wait time. It sounds VERY FAIR. The waitress was coming to tell the customers a mini-greet, because she knew we were seated first. That’s what this scenario sounds like, for her to come to our table to get our drink order instead of theirs first. > [@Enderw24](#): > > Yet, when the situation is reversed, when it’s YOU who gets the greeting and the “I’ll be right back,” you take advantage of the situation and go ahead and order. You slow down a waitress who has told you where you fall in the lineup and you purposely cut in line ahead of those who have been seated before you. > > It is rude. It is inconsiderate. And, coming from you, it’s extremely hypocritical. For one thing, ANYTIME when servers have told us “I’ll be right back”, we don’t say ANYTHING, so that’s not rude. Secondly, if they greet us, YES, we have EVERY RIGHT to order the full thing drinks, salads, appetizers, and entrees if we choose to order all of that or some of those. That’s not cutting, because we can order as much as we want to just as anyone else can or ask questions. It’s not rude or inconsiderate if we would have been able to tell the server(couldn’t because they left before we got a chance to say we were ready to order when they said “I’ll be right back.”) That’s within our RIGHTS to place as much orders as WHEN WE CHOOSE. There’s no dining out RULES that state it HAS to go like the norm that you order drinks first/appetizers first, then the server comes back to get entree orders. We can place our food orders when we want to. The problem was when servers said “I’ll be right back”, they really walked away extremely quickly to where we couldn’t say we were ready to order. ---
**Author:** ![Springs1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Springs1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springs1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/416 "2009-03-18T02:55:41Z")
> [@Hakuna\_Matata](#): > > But I ordered first and thus based on your logic should get my food first. Why should you get your food before me? It isn’t my fault that my food takes longer. You should have ordered something else. Isn’t that the moral thing to do based on your logic? Don’t you have any decency? > > How am “I” to know your steak is only done medium and takes less time then mine? All I see is YOU are getting your steak BEFORE me. And based again on your logic that is unfair. > > Or maybe you need to step back and realize that YOU don’t know shit about running a restaurant and nobody will ever do things the way you are suggesting. You are the one that doesn’t know shit about a restaurant. For one thing, any smart customer would know that if they ordered a well done steak, even if the customer by them ordered a well done steak, it may not be the same exact entree or made the same way such as no seasoning, seafood on it, etc. If I would see someone getting a steak that ordered after me, I would assume they ordered their steak medium well instead of well done like me. Don’t you get this? It’s not about cooking times, it’s about that if you have things on a tray, you can hand them out in order, can’t you? If I ask for a side of ranch and you do right after me, so our server brings out both ranches, which our server CAN hand mine to me first since I asked for mine first, then yours. There’s no reason to hand things out unfairly, NONE!! ---
**Author:** ![Springs1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Springs1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springs1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/417 "2009-03-18T02:58:28Z")
> [@gurujulp](#): > > **SPRIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG???** Where ARE yoooouuuuuuuUUUU? I do work 8 hrs M-F. I am not always on here. I am here when I want to. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/418 "2009-03-18T03:05:50Z")
When you want to what? Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/419 "2009-03-18T03:12:25Z")
> [@Springs1](#): > > If I would see someone getting a steak that ordered after me, I would assume they ordered their steak medium well instead of well done like me. Don’t you get this? It’s not about cooking times, it’s about that if you have things on a tray, you can hand them out in order, can’t you? Just so I get a ‘feel’ for your logic here. So if the second person orders a steak medium and the first person orders it well–it is okay if the medium steak comes up first and they bring that out first. No bad restaurant karma right? But if they come up at the same time (which could easily happen as my order could have been a few mintues before yours) , then because they are on the same tray it is wrong to give the medium steak first? Is that what you are saying? So medium steak up first, then 3 minutes later the well done steak comes up–all is great. but medium steak and well done steak up together–then all hell breaks loose because the waitress had the audacity to serve the medium one first? Wow. It is the tray—see now I get it. I didn’t realize the tray had such importance. Thanks for clarifying it for me. btw–can I ask you a couple of questions? How old are you? And what do you do for a living? wait–one more–have you ever been a waitress? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747/420 "2009-03-18T03:13:11Z")
The one thing nobody has mentioned, although it’s been touched on, is proximity to the kitchen **Springs1** ’s two sets of diners are. If I were serving this diners and I was coming out of the kitchen with a tray of salads for both sets of diners, I would drop off the which was most convenient to get to first. I couldn’t care less which one of them ordered them first. The likelihood they would get their salads within a minute of each other is extremely high. That’s good enough for me and I’m guessing anyone else possessing an ounce of common sense. There’s nothing wrong with maximizing efficiency as a server. In fact, it’s a very desirable trait. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-tippers/488747.md?page=22)