Sunday, October 16, 2005

Restaurant Etiquette

Happy birthday to Doug. Actually, it was technically yesterday the 16th, but I was with him all day, so no time for blogging. He turned 24. That makes him a whole 10 months younger than me. Which means...I was born before he was even conceived.

Before Sunrise = 4/10. SNOOZE!!! Apparently I am the only person who didn't love this movie because it is rated 7.9 on IMDB. I have no idea how. I thought this was a very juvenile movie with lame-o conversations. Or maybe it's the fact that I do not believe in true love at first sight. True infatuation, sure. That minor in psychology I possess must have messed up my romantic thinking because, from what I remember, the stages of love simply cannot happen that quickly. I was unclear on if they slept together or not, too.

Someone must be reading my blog because I got a completely random Netflix friend invitation. I'm super happy about that. Thanks, Robert McDonald from possibly Oklahoma City. Although I think we might have very different tastes in movies, he HATED The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. That makes him alright in my book. I sent him an email asking how he found me. No reply thus far. I need more Netflix friends. Send me an invite!
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I feel that a specific person I have dined with occasionally (yes, he/she reads this) would be greatly edified by reading "What All Customers Should Know" section here. Specifically, item #2, on tipping. You know you are and it's high time I tell you in a covert way that this behavior sucks! Although, he/she has mentioned that I do #6 far too much.

6 comments:

Amanda Z said...

I tip well at restraunts I know I will return to soon. Like the Speedy's location on Mingo that Aaron and I used to go to like once a week, we always left at least 20%.

And I'm always nice to servers, I always say thank you and please and all that.

Still-- even if I was a jackass... I'm not all that terrified of someone spitting in my food. Eh. Could be worse. I've seen the crap they eat on Fear Factor.

Amanda Z said...

My point that I never actually got to is that I really don't feel you should tip out of fear of what they might do to your food. I always tip in accordance with the service I received. So if they spit in my food the next time I come in because the service was crappy the last time... oh well. I'll never know anyway.

Rachel said...

I completely agree about the tip should match the service. I will add that I generally round up to the next half dollar, too.

My father always tips like 25% even if it was completely crappy service. It drives me insane!

Anonymous said...

Hi, just came across your blog's discussion of tipping, and I thought I'd toss in my two cents on why tipping should be a voluntary matter up to the discretion of the customer.

While it is true that servers are paid $2.13/hour, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the employer must make up the difference anytime that hourly amount, when combined with the server's tips, equals less than minimum wage.

I will give you that waiting on tables can be a difficult and stressful job. The problem is, there are many difficult and stressful jobs that only pay minimum wage. I have yet to have anyone satisfactorily explain why servers automatically 'deserve' to be paid more than minimum wage, especially if they only do the minimum requirements of their job (namely, taking an order, relaying the order to the kitchen, and bringing the order to the table). Not to be disrespectful, but this is, generally speaking, an unskilled job that requires no formal education.

If servers were in danger of making $2/hour, I would support the position of mandatory tipping 100%. But, as long as a server is guaranteed to at least make minimum wage, it should be up to the customer to decide if, and how much, to tip.

Threatening to spit in the food of a non-tipper is akin to a locksmith threatening to break into your home if you don't pay him extra. Sure, he could do it, but it would be illegal and unethical. Extortion is not a convincing argument for higher wages! :)

Rachel said...

Thanks for stopping by, Micah P. I never knew that waiters eventually got minimum wage if the tips didn't add up to that amount. I wasn't making an argument for or against tipping. I was simply stating my personal embarrassment when the waiter approaches with a "hello" and the person I am with rudely retorts, "yeah, I'll have a martini."

Although I believe tipping should be based on the level of service received, I thought it was way cool as a 16-year-old when I worked at Sonic and earned minimum wage PLUS tips. I was in heaven. And then I grew up.

Anonymous said...

Ah, I misuderstood your post... I agree that being rude to waiters (or anyone else) sucks.

Sonic sounds like a good gig... as a youth I worked for minimum wage at a starbucks that forbode tips (and later as a janitor's assistant... no tips there either), perhaps forever biasing towards those who receive them.

Great blog... found you through the Netflix plug you recieved. I've been amusing myself by browsing through your past posts... you've not officially been added to my Bloglines!