Yanno, I’ve never understood the prevalence of this meme. Every time it’s been brought up on this board, it’s typically been debunked (with a few exceptions) by the legions of former waitstaff who have never experienced or seen any such thing. Also, even for myself who has waited my share of tables too, this has just never happened. And I put my time in in backwater smaller towns in east Texas that would certainly be prone to retaliation if they felt is was justified. Just saying.
Well, well, well … as a life long professional musician, who’s parents owned a restaurant, uncle was a chef, grandfather was a chef, and first serious girlfriend was a full time coffee shop waitress (plus the other various waitress and cocktail server/barmaid girlfriends), I’ve played in literally hundreds of lounges, restaurants, casinos, and night clubs. I’ve seen the spitting, the peeing, the kick the food on the floor, and other things I don’t want to admit seeing.
I don’t know why there are apparently a ready supply of prissy servers who enjoy trying to debunk this fact of restaurant life … maybe it’s an effort to not dissuade potential customers, or they may have led sheltered lives, but I have no reason to exaggerate what I’ve seen over the years. It happens all the time. Chefs are the worst.
It depends on the place. If people are expected to be professional and your co-workers wouldn’t approve and would likely tell the boss, it most likely won’t happen, and that’s been my experience working in food service most of my adult life.
But, if the management isn’t managing, and people are unattended, and the rules are lax, and co-workers not only wouldn’t care but might encourage it, then yeah, I wouldn’t be rude to the staff at such a place.
Really, at any place. It’s sort of like insulting your surgeon right before surgery. Why be insulting toward someone who is in a great position to fuck with you without your knowledge or being able to do anything about it?
Fucking with the staff is dumb. Just tell a manager if there’s a problem.
People who make half minimum wage aren’t paid enough to care about you. Especially when you’re rude to them and don’t pay them for their time.
Prissy? Bwahahahaha! Well, I suppose you told me, what with your one bit of anecdotal evidence trumping mine and apparently the person who posted after you. But perhaps we run in classier circles, who knows? Although I do agree that there’s no point inducing with people, I’ll continue to believe my own experiences and the data of those who, again, understand that for the most part, that meme is currently bullshit. Your mileage obviously varies.
What exactly does bwahaha …etc. mean? Isn’t that the laugh of the megalomaniacal evil genius? Or is that Muahaha? I don’t think you’re an evil genius bent on world domination, unless you’re working your way through super-villain school by waiting tables.
I never called you prissy … but if the shoe fits, hope it has rubber soles. Most of the places around the world I’ve worked in the past 39 years or so were staffed with let’s say a more “colorful” type than perhaps you’re used to. I wouldn’t let it bother me, if I were you. We all have different experiences
Spitting in food does happen. It’s not frequent because it’s illegal and is just an awful thing to do.
The experiences of most food service workers will show that they did NOT see any spitting. This is because those people that might spit in food either get fired, or choose to leave the industry.
There are PLENTY of other ways to get back at a rude customer without breaking any laws or putting “non-food” items in their meal.
That’s right A-hole at the body shop that not only didn’t tip, but was consistently a prick, your pizza sure looked cut didn’t it? Have fun tearing the pieces with your greasy fingers. Ah, those were the days.
What dnooman said. It’s not that it never, ever, everever happens, but it’s so rare as to not warrant hardly a mention, let alone a meme.
This has nothing to do with this thread but I have always thought this exact same thing whenever I have seen the “bwahahaha” expression. It’s just a general expression for laughter but it reads very sinister and evil. :eek:
I guess most of us agree that the non-tipper, as an archetype, is a jerk. But exactly how to you, or anyone else here (that four-top needs more butter), know the experiences of MOST food service workers? Is there a national poll, a major study in the field?
I submit that “most food service workers”, in this case, means “the waitstaff I have met, worked with, or discussed this topic with, or the waiters who’s message board posts I’ve read.”
I’ll concede that the percentage of servers (and cooks) vindictive and brassy enough to spit in your soup is somewhere below 50%. That said, I’ve seen it happen often enough that I’ll advise any cheapskates out there to tip fairly, if not out of decency, then out of fear.
Right back 'atcha buddy. You have your experiences,and I have mine. Spitting in food is anathema and verboten here, maybe not so where you’ve been.
It’s not right to threaten people with biological food contamination if they don’t conform to tipping norms, but it that’s their motivation, I’ll do nothing to make them feel otherwise.
If a tip isn’t in your budget for a normally tipped service, take your cheap-ass elsewhere. This applies to both the wealthy and the poor.
Nevermind
Hmmm…
As an outsider I find the note offensive and shallow. Picking on a low-wage person to make a political point is contemptuous.
The larger issue is the peculiar culture of the US where restaurant patrons individually decide whether a waiter/waitress should be paid for their work. That simply does not happen in other jobs.
My thoughts are garnered from personal experience. In the 1980s I worked as a waiter in Denver for 6 months being paid $2/hour. I enjoyed it because it was an experience. The tips were absolutely essential and amounted to another $3/hour which just made a living wage. One of the busboys (no tips except what we shared) lived in his car. I was often stiffed.
My considered opinion is that waiters and waitresses should be paid a decent wage from the beginning and tips be an additional gratuity to recognise good service.
Conservative, liberal, no matter.
The guy is a jackass, plain and simple.
Mwahahaha is the evil laugh to me and bwahaha is just a nice deep derisive belly laugh.
Okay, first, this thread title is the best thing there is. Second, I’m not entirely convinced the photo is real either; it’s just the right amount of trolling to get everyone’s hackles raised.
You nailed it; Waiters, servers, bus-staff, bartenders should all be getting a sane living wage. In Las Vegas, many service employees are members of the Culinary Union and their wages are better.
It’s just a shame that the IRS decided to rip off tip earners and force pooling and reporting of tips. A tip is a gift, a thanks for services rendered with a smile, for the extra trips back to the kitchen for overlooked extras, for making a meal or round of drinks special and memorable.
Ideally, a tip would go from the hand of the customer to the hand of the server and into the pocket. Taxing tips is like taxing you for the equivalent cost of lodging when your buddy lets you stay in his spare room for free while you get on your feet.