# Midnight Restaurant Customers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012 "2008-10-01T16:03:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/81 "2008-10-02T18:45:10Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > OK Chimera, we’ve heard what you don’t like about your job, so perhaps you might like to share a few of the things you do like about your job. There are things you do like, aren’t there? Oh, and maybe if you include a few positive anecdotes about those of an ethnic persuasion, people might be more inclined to accept that there is no racist slant to your RO. Why should he have to share a few things about his job that he does like? That was not the point of th OP. Why should he share positive anecdotes about those of an ethnic persuasion so people will be inclined to think there is no racist slant in his OP? He has already stated several times that was not his intent and if people still do not believe him after he has stated so then that is their problem. And to actually contribute to the thread I’ll add that when I worked at a couple of food places pretty much anyone who came in after 10pm was a jerk or drunk or high. The people who were high were usually more pleasant than the other two types. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/82 "2008-10-02T18:46:07Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > OK Chimera, we’ve heard what you don’t like about your job, so perhaps you might like to share a few of the things you do like about your job. There are things you do like, aren’t there? Oh, and maybe if you include a few positive anecdotes about those of an ethnic persuasion, people might be more inclined to accept that there is no racist slant to your RO. Your posts, you know, tend to have a habitual rat felcher slant to them. Maybe you could offer a few anecdotes to counter that impression. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/83 "2008-10-02T19:09:19Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Oh, and maybe if you include a few positive anecdotes about those of an ethnic persuasion, people might be more inclined to accept that there is no racist slant to your RO. Go. Fuck. Yourself. Prove that you’re not a rat felcher. After all, you’ve been accused of it right here! Prove you’re not a pedophile, an axe murderer or a troglodyte. Prove that you’re not a basement dwelling, morbidly obese asshole on “disability”. Prove that you’re not an Agent of the North Korean Government. Prove that YOU aren’t a racist. Get the point yet? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/84 "2008-10-02T19:41:28Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Go. > Fuck. > Yourself. > > Prove that you’re not a rat felcher. After all, you’ve been accused of it right here! > Prove you’re not a pedophile, an axe murderer or a troglodyte. > Prove that you’re not a basement dwelling, morbidly obese asshole on “disability”. > Prove that you’re not an Agent of the North Korean Government. > > Prove that YOU aren’t a racist. > > Get the point yet? Prove you’re not just a miserable cunt with an axe to grind. Because that’s how you come across to me with your paltry little fucking rant. My opinions don’t matter to you? Ignore them. Remember, I’m not the one who set myself up for racist accusations with my observations of late night cafe clientele. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/85 "2008-10-02T19:49:27Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Your posts, you know, tend to have a habitual rat felcher slant to them. Maybe you could offer a few anecdotes to counter that impression. You seem fairly au fait with the practice of rat felching, so why don’t you tell me what it entails, and I’ll consider giving you a response? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/86 "2008-10-02T19:54:54Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > Why should he have to share a few things about his job that he does like? That was not the point of th OP. Oh, so there was a point, other than all-night diners tend to attract a lower class of customer? How fucking insightful. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/87 "2008-10-02T22:58:44Z")
You know what, ivan, I generally do not insult other people on this board, but I have to make an exception for you. You never contribute anything useful. At least some of the other people here are actually arguing with **Chimera** in a focused way about his OP (which I, unfortunately, have to agree with - everything he said has been confirmed by my own personal experience, and like it or not, certain groups of people do sometimes behave in a certain way more often than others, though I think it really has nothing to do with “race” and everything to do with culture.) Your posts remind me of **2.5** and a host of other former members here who never had anything to add except petty bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/88 "2008-10-02T23:19:12Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > You never contribute anything useful. And you know this, how? Have you read everyone of my posts, Argent? If you have, can you tell me what for? Are you stalking me? Are you doing some sort of study on the worthiness of Straightdope posters? Perhaps you are the arbiter of what a ‘useful’ Straightdope poster should be like? If so, and I fail your test, well fucking boo hoo to you. If you want to support Chimera’s pathetic rant - What is he? The defender of the underpaid waitress, as well as a security guard? - that is fair enough. You are entitled to your opinion, as I am mine. Now fuck off back into your cage, and I’ll rattle it when I want your attention. ---
**Author:** ![mudkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@mudkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mudkicker)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/89 "2008-10-02T23:21:47Z")
> [@myskepticsight](#): > > I’ve spent time in shitty restaurants late at night, you go in high school to smoke cigarettes and hang out when you’ve got nowhere else to go. My friends have worked at some of these shitty restaurants late at night. Race doesn’t matter here - if you’re eating a meal at 2am and you’re not just someone who has to work a weird shift, you’re probably drunk, on drugs, a weirdo, asshole, insomniac, etc. :dubious: That’s a tad sweeping and more than a little rude, especially given how you have condemned the OP for what you see as racist generalising. Yep, a lot of people getting food at 2 am are either drunk or on drugs (and so what, as long as they’re not causing any hassle?). But not everyone is. Someone awake and out getting food at 2am is not ‘a weirdo, asshole, [or] insomniac’ just because of it, ffs. It’s 1215 am here and I’ll be staying up for another few hours yet - because I want to watch the Biden/Palin debate at 2am our time. I may go out and get chips in an hour or so. What a weirdo! (And I love how you lump ‘insomniac’ in with drunk, on drugs, asshole and weirdo. :rolleyes:) ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/90 "2008-10-02T23:27:32Z")
Be careful you don’t cut off the circulation in your legs twisting up those panties so hard, **ivan.** ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/91 "2008-10-03T00:07:03Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > Be careful you don’t cut off the circulation in your legs twisting up those panties so hard, **ivan.** It’s nice of you to be concerned about my well being, but I feel a bit selfish, as I give less than a shit about yours. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/92 "2008-10-03T00:14:01Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > It’s nice of you to be concerned about my well being, but I feel a bit selfish, as I give less than a shit about yours. The Russians have a saying: When ten people tell you you’re drunk, go lie down. You need to go lie down. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/93 "2008-10-03T00:19:22Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I have no idea if this is a woosh or not; however, I’ve read (on this very board) that in some parts of the US ‘Canadian’ is actually code for ‘African American’. > > I have no idea if that’s true. > > Assuming that’s NOT what’s going on here, I have to say - at home in Canada I am a very good tipper - 20% is standard. 25% -30% if you’ve done a very good job. 15% if you suck. > > The last couple of times I’ve been in the US (I go pretty often), I’ve recieved really, really bad service. Slow. Food not hot. Server is distracted or pays little attention. Didn’t bring bill - we had to go up to the front and try to pay there after waiting for 10 minutes at the table. > > I’m afraid I really didn’t tip very well because the service sucked ass. 10% at the most I think. I’m starting to think that is where the idea that Canadians are lousy tippers has come from - servers are not paid the same way in Canada as they are in the US. They’re paid at least minimum wage before the tips here (or more), with wages supplemented by tips. Tipping is is still considered an optional bonus that is given for good service here (although we almost always tip, though). Plus, there’s all those snowbirds giving us a bad name. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/94 "2008-10-03T00:45:39Z")
> [@villa](#): > > If you treat all your customers the same, well done. I know when I bartended, my good tippers would be more likely to get served first when the bar was crowded over Rudy, who never left so much as a nickel in his life. Well, sure, but when you’re waiting on someone you’ve never seen before and don’t do well because you _think_ you’ll get stiffed, isn’t that kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/95 "2008-10-03T01:17:44Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > You seem fairly au fait with the practice of rat felching, so why don’t you tell me what it entails, and I’ll consider giving you a response? I’m sorry…I didn’t understand you. Please take the rat anus from your mouth and say again. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/96 "2008-10-03T02:20:37Z")
I delivered pizza through college in the late 1980s. Quoting **Audrey Levins** : \> People of either sex under the age of 25 Among college students, those at the University of Buffalo tipped quite well, while those at Daemen College, a small Catholic school, always ordered a $6.65 special and left us the 35 cents. Always. I have no idea why SUNY students were generally good tippers, while those attending a private school were terrible. \> Women (of any age) who have never worked in–or known anybody \> who has worked in–the service (tipped) industry Mixed experience here. Delivering to a workplace, my tips seemed to be lower if it was to a group of women, as compared to a mixed or male-dominated group, Also, it was always women that sent their kids to the door to pay, knowing that the kids had no idea about tipping and would likely stiff the driver. \> African Americans I was friendly to everybody, regardless of their race or their anticipated tip. That being said, for several months as an experiment, I kept track of the race of the person I delivered to. The average tip I got from a white customer was about $1.25. The average tip I got from a black customer was 8¢ or 9¢. Eight or nine cents. It’s an average, because most of the time, black customers didn’t tip; those that did usually tipped about the same as an average white customer. Selection bias my ass. \> Senior Citizens A typical senior tipped a bit less than the norm, but a LOT more of them gave tiny tips; either the 30 cents of change, or went out of their way to tip a quarter. I wonder if they were thinking “Here you go, son! With that generous tip, you and your girl-friend can take a street-car ride down-town to-night to see one of those movie-films, and have enough left over for dinner at a fine restau-rant, and the next day you’ll have enough money left over to buy a pair of sock suspend-ers.” \> [del]Tourists who aren’t American[/del] Canadians Fixed that for you. I mean hockey and curling playing Canadians, not tying to conceal the fact that you’re saying something racist when blacks are within earshot Canadian. \> Americans from small towns/rural communities No experience in delivering to them, really. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/97 "2008-10-03T02:21:36Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Prove you’re not just a miserable cunt with an axe to grind. Because that’s how you come across to me with your paltry little fucking rant. My opinions don’t matter to you? Ignore them. Remember, I’m not the one who set myself up for racist accusations with my observations of late night cafe clientele. But you’re pretty much the only one that sees the OP in that light, after his repeated explanations re: the race issue. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/98 "2008-10-03T02:26:11Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > - Subcontinental, not Native American. Yeah, I know what you _really_ wanted to say. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/99 "2008-10-03T02:43:16Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > The Russians have a saying: When ten people tell you you’re drunk, go lie down. You need to go lie down. Man, when a Russian gets drunk, I wonder at how much alcohol that took. Ivan, are you Russian? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012/100 "2008-10-03T10:01:48Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > …servers are not paid the same way in (many countries) as they are in the US. They’re paid at least minimum wage before the tips here (or more), with wages supplemented by tips. Tipping is is still considered an optional bonus that is given for good service… (subbed Canada for many countries and underlined) I make a point of explaining to people I know who are going to the US that in the US the waiters get less than minimum wage (“why do they call it minimum wage then?” “Why do we call it minimum wage when someone with a training contract doesn’t make it?” “gotcha”). Several times I’ve been talking with someone who had been to the US and found it very irritating that every single guide would tell them to tip, and to tip a lot more than they ever would in Spain; of course, the guides never think of explaining why… In the case of the people described in the OP, though, why wouldn’t they be familiar with the tipping mores of the place where they live? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-restaurant-customers/466012.md?page=6)