Last night, I stumbled across a website highlighting examples of passive-aggressive behavior http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com. One thread focused on customers' approach to tipping poor waitstaff (writing, "We waited 30 minutes, no servic" in ketchup and mustard on the table) Needless to say, this post had a LOT of responses, many from waiters and waitresses trying to justify why they should get 15-20% tips just for living, regardless of how terribly they serve their customers.
We eat out a lot, and we've had our share of bad waiters, but Stephen is usually fairly generous with a tip anyway. There have a been a few exceptions, however, that have caused even him to express displeasure through the lack of a tip.
Here are my two personal favorites:
At Red Lobster, where we usually receive GREAT service, we had a waiter that practically ignored us as he buttered up the two rich elderly women seated behind us. He was not winning any brownie points with us to begin with, but he drove the nail in the coffin as we were preparing to leave. As I wrote on my take-out box the contents and the date, he asked, "What are you doing?" When I told him, he looked at me and said, "Well, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of!"
We went to Steak and Shake after church one evening, and the restaurant was slow. We were told to pick a table and someone would be with us soon. After we finally flagged someone down, we ordered drinks. While we were waiting for our drinks, Kira lay down in the booth, saying she didn't feel very well. She suspected she was just really hungry. When we finally got our drinks, she took a few sips, which improved her color, but only briefly. Finally, she just went into the bathroom and tried to relieve her discomfort. As she was sitting there, she started to talk and puked all over the floor instead. I helped clean her off, then went and found an employee, telling her that my daughter just threw up in the restroom. 5 minutes later, we see someone wheel the mop and bucket back to the restrooms. Good! A few minutes later, Kira again needed the restroom. We ran into the employee exiting the MEN's room, who recognized us and said, "Oh, she threw up in the girls' bathroom?!?"
What are some of your dining out horror stories?
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I would say the worst service I've ever received was at La Cantina. I was with Mom. We'd placed our order, and the waiter never returned to our table.
The bartender brought our drinks over, and we had to return to the bar for refills. Someone else brought our food. He did spend much time chatting up the group at the next table over, who wouldn't normally be considered chat-worthy.
He avoided any eye contact, and turned his back when we requested the bill. Since we often went there, and always ordered the same thing, we knew how much the bill would be. We had just enough cash between us to cover the cost of the meal, but not the full tax, and certainly none for a tip (we had tipped the bartender, though). Oh, well.
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