Being fed up with the crappy temp service I work for, I’m getting ready to start job hunting again for a dealing job to make some money so I can contribute more to the household expenses and get some money saved up while I’m waiting to get my massage therapist license so I can start my real career.
Dealing is, of course, a tipped occupation. Well, technically, a “toked” occupation, but I digress. During my prior career, I got some unusual tips. One lady who was a regular at a casino I worked for never put actual money down for the dealers, but if she liked you… I got entire meals from her. She would get take-out, put it in a plastic bag, sidle up to me, set it on the floor next to my feet and whisper “this is for your lunch.” One time it was seafood. Crab legs, shrimp, grilled oysters, and a side veggie. I feasted royally while the cats begged pitifully. Then there was the guy who lit up a cigar at the table. Smelled like a Black and Mild. I asked if it was, and he said, “Yes”. “I love Black and Milds”, I told him. He gave me one. I once got a Mocha Latte from Starbucks as a tip. Had to share that with the pit boss.
So, what have you, tip-earning Dopers, received as non-monetary but still tangible rewards for a job well done?
I’ve gotten all kinds of strange what-have-yous – a knife, a football, movie tickets, dog biscuits, etc. – but for sheer weirdness, nothing beats the tip I got off of a table about a year ago.
There were two customers at the table; both seemed to be about 25. They struck me as extremely sketchy, but you don’t get to pick your customers. Anyway, they were easy enough; they ordered appetizers and chatted with me a bit about the NCAA basketball standings. They paid, and I went back to the kitchen to roll some silverware.
When I headed over to the table to collect my tip, I saw that they had only left me one dollar. A rolled-up dollar, no less. Lying next to…a thin, one inch long pile of…white powder.
:eek:
Being of the non-idiot persuasion, I grabbed a rag, cleaned the table, went outside, and threw the rag in the dumpster. Even if that were my idea of fun, I don’t think I’d engage in it at work. Of course, from what I understand, that stuff isn’t cheap, either, so I guess – in a weird way – it means they must’ve liked me. Well, thanks for the thought, guys, but…no thanks.
In the sixth grade, I had a morning paper route. After the first week, one of my customers asked if I could get the paper to him before 5:30. He said he’d make it worth it. (He owned the six unit apartment building I delivered to.) I had 70-some customers, and had to change the way I delivered, but I did. Soon (in addition to the large cash tips, but those are off-subject here) he was tipping me with hockey sticks, tickets to football and hockey games, and a few other things I can’t specifically remember.
And at Christmas, a lot of my customers would give me baked stuff.
When I was 15 or so, I was working coat-check at a rather swanky hotel for a New Year’s Eve bash. A celebrity (who had recently been let out of jail after serving a sentance for rape) was there with a VERY inebriated date. She must have taken a liking to me, because she kept leaving the party to come mumble and drool in my general direction.
When they were ready to leave, Celebrity Dude was basically holding The Lush upright, and she tried to tip me a quarter of weed. The whole quarter! (Much like Roland, I now understand the monetary value of said tip.) I was 15 and straight-edge, and I refused it multiple times before she left it on my counter and he dragged her off.
I freaked out - I was so afraid I’d be busted for possession. I wrapped the bag in an entire roll of paper towels and walked across the hotel to a far off bathroom to throw it out. Hope housecleaning found it and had a good night!
I got a videotape of G. G. Aliln’s infamous Memphis show at the venerable Antenna Club as a tip once. Best damn tip I ever got.
The show lasts a total of three songs before the cameraman flees outside. It ends with the cops showing up. Let me just say that you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a man eat his own shit for entertainment purposes.
