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.
Actually waitrons was a term used by the old Sierra On Line Co. that made the space quest games. Waitrons were used in Space Quest 6.
As a side note: I am not responsible for what waiters and waitresses are paid. This is the responsibility of the employer. Take a smaller profit and pay your people a decent wage, quit picking my pocket every time i eat out!
LOL!!!
As was posted earlier, serving staff can be, and often are, taxed on what the tip is expected to be.
Smart. Tipping up front and as the meal progresses is money well spent, too.
You'd stay sloshed too if you had to go home and have the Alpha Male all over you.
"If I am dining with my grumpy old father-in-law, I start tipping up front to pre-emptively counter-act his insults to the employees."
Yup. I occasionally eat with one of those people who is a pain in the butt. I always warn the server in advance and tip an obscene amount.
The only time I mention tips is when I take the little one's out. I know and the staff know they are going to be messy. Usually a joke about how big a mess they make determines their tip and laughs and special attention to the kids result. The best way to get a bigger tip with me is to give my lil "darlins" VIP treatment:') Only a few times have I left without a tip and I followed up with a call to the manager. Yall are talking about higher scale "diners" though. I try to tip all food related service people. Sometimes I have to complain to the manager because they aren't allowed to accept though. I would have expected Kerry to have left a dollar or two on that Wendy's table.
AMEN.
Leave the customer out of payroll. Just charge me more for the food.
It's not all that bad, but I thought you should know.
I base my tipping, in general, based upon the probability that I'll be eating there again (for example, I have lunch at a local Fish & Chips place at least once a week - and I tip about 30% there, but that's on a $10 Bill) and, beyond that, on the attractiveness of the waitress.
I really shouldn't, but I just can't help myself.
Use the same one you use to calculate your 10% tithe ... whether pre-tax or after-tax.
We've had this discussion on here before, but my baseline tip is about 10%. In other words, 10% (probably a little more since I round up to make things even out in $.25 increments) is what I give for average service. They have to earn it over that. But since I don't go places where I've been burned by bad service, it usually ends up being around 15%.
ATTAGIRL!
A shame the father didn't show the backbone. Now he knows a real woman has more testosterone than he--and must live with it until he finds some, God help him to be a man.
Maybe the best explanation for their low tipping is their general, multi-faceted disconnect from reality.
He was probably just following the example of Her Heinousness who left a cafe in New York without paying.
Oh, yeah, I never leave less than a couple bucks on a cup of coffee.
and, beyond that, on the attractiveness of the waitress.
I really shouldn't, but I just can't help myself.
You dog!
That's a bit low, but it's your money.
Unfortunately, that waitperson is paying income tax on 15% of your food bill. Restaurants send W-2's to their employees, using 15% as the amount earned as tips.
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