Posted on 11/26/2005 9:50:03 AM PST by smoothsailing
Bad tippers and bitter waitresses
By Jack Kemp (not the politician) Nov. 26, 2005
Once, years ago, I heard a heard a lecture by a rabbi on dating. He advised that if your date treats a waiter/waitress or a busboy in a condescending and mean manner, that is the way they will treat you after a while – if you were to marry them. Today's New York Post had an article about cheap celebrity tippers listed on the website www.bitterwaitress.com.
I went there to see how many well known political "champions of the little guy and gal" rated. I cross referenced the website with liberals from Bernard Goldberg's One Hundred People Screwing Up America.
........
Let's see. First up, Michael Moore, 3% tip.
Tipper's Name: Michael Moore (yes THAT Michael Moore)
Where it happened: Los Angeles
Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $452.25 / $17.74 / 3%
What happened:
OK I ran my ass off for this guy and his friends. Funny I didnt know this guy had friends, maybe they were kissups. 2.5 hours they spent shoveling food down their fat faces. Numerous refills. By the way MM is a pompous ass judging from his treatment of the staff.
............
Let's see again. Barbra Streisand, 2% tip.
Tipper's Name: Barbra Streisand
Where it happened: New York
Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $457.00 / $10.00 / 2%
What happened:
She demanded the best table, acting rude to everyone and then barely tipped.
..........
Next "champion of the people," Jessie Jackson 9% tip.
Tipper's Name: Jesse Jackson
Restaurant: Sam's
Where it happened: Kansas City
Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $228.00 / $22.00 / 9%
What happened: rude,arrogant,demanding and cheap
.........
Next up, Sen. John Kerry, 2% tip.
Tipper's Name: John F. Kerry
Where it happened: St. Louis
Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $773.24 / $20.00 / 2%
What happened:
Added $20.00 on the signature line and then scribbled a little note to vote for him. What a load of crap.
......
Kerry's former running mate, Sen. John Edwards, 2% tip.
Tipper's Name: John Edwards
Where it happened: Washington, D.C.
Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $746.25 / $13.75 / 1%
What happened:
This is the guy running for Vice President… Sat in our private section for 3 1/2 hours and left less than 2%. Jackass.
.........
Former VP Al Gore. 8% tip.
Tipper's Name: Former VP Al Gore
Where it happened: Alexandria, VA
Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $40.00 / $3.50 / 8%
What happened:
Al and Tipper Gore were regulars at the restaurant I used to work at. You'd think this would be cool, waiting on a former Vice President. And it would be, if not for the fact that Al Gore is cheap.
Last time they came in, Tipper actually spilled her beer on me (it's not smart to gesture wildly with a bottle of Corona on your table). She didn't apologize—he apologized for her. Still. Less than 10%. You'd think they'd know that the 'underclass' the Democrats claim to represent are people like waitresses in VA making $2.13 an hour. Guess not.
.........
Lastly, Sean Penn, 0% tip. Nada. Zip. Zero.
Tipper's Name: Sean Penn
Where it happened: New Orleans
Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $450.00 / $0.00 / 0%
What happened:
Sean Penn is in New Orleans filming & came into my restaurant with 3 other people. Waited on them hand and foot. The bill $450.00 – the tip: none. Cheapskate.
........
There you have it. The champions of "fairness" and "the little guy." Yes, President Bush and VP Cheney made the website as well. But who is claiming them as champions of the poor and oppressed victims, advocating extra government payments to make up for past suffering, etc.?
.............................
Thomas Lifson adds:
I have followed Bitter Waitress for years. It is well-known in the food and beverage industry, and at least at the upscale restaurants, it has a big following among the wait staff. When one of these bozos comes in, they usually will not treat them overtly rudely. But vengeance of another sort may sometimes occur. Let the diner beware.
Most people realize that watitrons (that's the non-sex-specific term favored theses days, believe it or not) are usually paid less than minimum wage, and that tips provide the margin of survival (to use leftist terminology) for them. To stiff a tip is to relegate someone to below minimum wage. This makes the behavior of these compassionate liberals all the more phony. Judge them by their deeds not their words.
I absolutely agree with Jack's rabbi that the best way to judge someone's character is to observe behavior with those who have no power or standing, and to do so in private in the case of celebrities and politicians. I have used this as a guide to friendships for almost my entire life, and it has proven highly reliable.
Depends on how many people are with you. I personally really enjoy fine dining. But hey, that's just me.
My husband and I eat at Chilli's bar once a week or so. The service is usually excellent and he leaves a good tip. I think sometimes that the kids start fixing things before we even order. We do tend to be creatures of habit:')
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college instructors, is how the tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore""
Shades of "Atlas Shrugged".....
Ironically, I think the biggest wine tip for the least amount of work I ever received was from a democrat, John Kennedy Jr. They were drinking magnums of 1983 Chateau Margaux @$1500 a bottle with some auto execs. He was pretty classy, pity about his uncle.
in a case like that would leave one penny to ensure they didn't think you forgot....
I also tip 20% for normal service....I usually drop to 10% if I'm unhappy and increse if I'm impressed or the staff is being run ragged from too many customers
*Shrugs*
Well, I don't eat at $750 restaraunts, so I really can't comment on that. The largest bill I can ever recall is $1000 - but that was for something like fifteen people.
A lesson for the younger people around here: don't ever have a birthday meal for someone where most of the people in attendance are College kids.
It ended up being practically an illustration of the income tax/meal bill story. Myself , the rich kid, and my friend's lesbian friend ended up paying $600 worth of the bill.
And don't forget to "toke" the dealers at the Casino either. A couple of months back, I'm playing Hold 'Em at the Mandalay Bay. This guy across from me is raking chips from a number of suck-outs against a better players (me included), and not tipping once. I'm talking pots of over thousand dollars, which would typically get the dealer at least a 25 chip.
Well, an hour later the poker gods finally catch up with the guy, and he starts hemorraging. His stack is going down fast. Finally, he's all-in against a rock sitting next to me. Showdown, and the guy sitting next to me turns over a flush. The other guy had a set of kings... or so he thought. He shows his hand, but he also has a flush as well (king high, higher than the rock's). Nobody at the table says anything, including the dealer, as the guy mucked his cards and threw them away.
When he left the table, the dealer just smiled. The guy who won the pot with the weaker flush tossed the dealer 50 dollars.
Had that moron been tipping, the dealer would have encouraged him to put his cards on the table, rather than muck them, and he'd have raked a nice pot.
True. I was thinking an average social group, two to four. I can see how a business lunch could run up a big bill. At our company we still have limits with travel and business though. I can spend it how ever I want. I just have to decide if I want to eat once or three times that day:')
Cool!
On the contrary, well stated.
I learned that proper dining etiquette was 15% for average service, 20% for good service, and as high as you want for exceptional service.
Like I said, though, it's your money and I'm not going to tell you how to spend it.
If you can't afford to tip properly, then you can't afford to be eating out in the first place!!!!!!!!!!
Not necessarily by the employer. Trust ME. BTW, many of us are not "help" but certified professionals in our trades.
The website www.bitterwaitress.com accepts anonymous entries. Anyone anywhere on the Internet could have made these entries. They have no validity whatsoever.
Here is the submissions policy for bitterwaitress:
"All submissions are totally anonymous, there are no logs kept."
On this site you can also several posts about how George Bush stiffs waiters and waitresses. Sample comment: "Incredibly rude and cheap. Treated like a slave." Do you believe that?
Data for the dumpster.
If you read what I wrote:
"... I think people should be lavishly rewarded for great service, if one can afford to do it. (some people really can't...) "
The key there was "lavishly". You may have missed the context. One can still tip appropriately at 15% for exceptional service, and still be within their rights to eat out. Not everyone is financially as well off as you or I might be, and every dollar counts. 15% is the accepted tip.
Indeed. This feeling I know. :-)
However, when you corporate card picks up the tab for 40 folks it gets big in a hurry. (Pre authorized of course)
When I was posting, I was thinking, waiter, waitress, no the waiting part might offend someone. I them though server? I settled with help. I also am a professional but I'm still "help".
Call me heartless but the servers need to be paid by the restaurant owners. I still give 15% post tax total on average, but it has to be good service. Slow gets 10%; piss me off and they get a dollar.
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