Names & Faces: How Not to Grill a Hungry Man [Bush humor]

The Washington Post ^ | January 23, 2004 | Anne Schroeder (wire reports)

[JohnnyZ]

How Not to Grill a Hungry Man

When the president's hungry, don't ask him about homeland security. Don't ask him anything, actually -- the man's gotta have his ribs.

NBC White House correspondent David Gregory got a refresher course in Economics 101 yesterday in New Mexico when President Bush and his press pool stopped by Nothin' Fancy Cafe in Roswell.

"Sir," Gregory began, "on homeland security, critics would say you simply haven't spent enough to keep the country secure."

"My job is to secure the homeland and that's exactly what we're going to do," Bush said. "But I'm here to take somebody's order. That would be you, Stretch. What would you like? Put some of your high-priced money right here to try to help the local economy. You get paid a lot of money; you ought to be buying some food here. It's part of how the economy grows. You've got plenty of money in your pocket, and when you spend it, it drives the economy forward. So what would you like to eat?"

[TYBEEISLAND]

Thank you, I'm a waitress, and being in the service profession, I tip the boy at Subway who makes my sub just the way I like it, I tip the video store girl who helps me find my movies,etc... they are service people who deserve our appreciation! At the restuarant where I work the people who get the take out orders ready get the tips.. I always tip for takeout.

[Cable225]

I believe in "you get what you give". I work PT as a bartender, and in the past I've waited tables, washed cars, and lots of other jobs that could be considered "tip worthy". Yet it never fails to amaze me how cheap people are.

Nothing grates me more than watching a group of adults divvy up a restaurant bill trying to decide if $4.16 is too much to leave the server on their $50 tab.

I leave more than that for a cup of coffee.

[JohnnyZ]

Eh, I think too much tipping gets silly. Although I did design the sign for a tip jar at Dairy Queen last year.

The whole point of take-out is not having to pay for delivery. Waiters get 20% and not a penny more, waitresses get 25% on average, delivery people get a few bucks (they always seem really happy and surprised so I guess it's plenty) and everyone else gets zip. (There are other folks who I would tip, like the barber, shoe shiner, bellhop, but I never use those things.)

[Grenada]

I am a tip freak after working in service as a teenager. I never tip less than 20%. When a waitress takes an item off of the bill for something I didn't eat, I tip 20% plus half the cost of the removed item. I never leave less than $3 for anything(like a 50 cent cup of coffee) and I have never tipped for takeout or fast food.

[mcg1969]

I agree. I tip generously where tipping has traditionally been expected. But I am not buying into this "tip creep" that has occurred lately. My gosh, everywhere I go is a tip jar these days. The next thing you know there's going to be a tip jar at the checkout line of the supermarket.

[DrDeb]

. . . just thought you might enjoy a subsript to this story as published at http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_7925.shtml

EXCERPT:

"Workers at Nuthin’ Fancy Cafe, a local eatery known more for its 50-cent beer than its food, were shocked when Bush walked in looking for lunch after his speech.

Owner Armando Aceves said he ordered pork ribs and buttermilk pie and autographed a menu.

“He called me 20 minutes later and said, ’Hey, you didn’t charge me the full amount,”’ Aceves said. The president promised to send along the difference."


I'm sure the "difference" will include a tip! [NOTE: This call from the President came well BEFORE the press started making a 'fuss' about this incident; did MSNBC, Norville or the rest of the 'unbiased' gang mention the phone call -- OF COURSE NOT! Regardless, I thought this was a really FUN story!]

[Cable225]

The whole point of take-out is not having to pay for delivery. Waiters get 20% and not a penny more, waitresses get 25% on average,

Two questions -

* On the take-out (in a restaurant not a Chinese place), the person that packaged it nicely so you could carry it out, rang up your order and said thank you was or is probably a waiter, waitress or bartender pulling down $2.50/hr plus TIPS. That person had to take service time away from someone at a table to handle your take-out order. And when you walked away making sure every penny of your change made it to your pocket, I guarantee you they'll remember you. Would two bucks really kill you? And who charges for delivery?

* Why would waitresses get 25% and waiters only 20% (and not a penny more!). Tell me, after you break out your pocket calculator if 20% comes out to $2.375 do you round up or down?

Ooops, I guess that makes four questions.

[JohnnyZ]

To answer your questions:

On the take-out (in a restaurant not a Chinese place), the person that packaged it nicely so you could carry it out, rang up your order and said thank you was or is probably a waiter, waitress or bartender pulling down $2.50/hr plus TIPS.

Actually it's usually a buffet, CiCi's Pizza. The kitchen guys handle the orders. And they don't make $2.50 an hour, you ignorant fool.

And when you walked away making sure every penny of your change made it to your pocket, I guarantee you they'll remember you.

They DO remember me. I'm a regular customer at a couple of places (young and single, doncha know!) and they love me.

Would two bucks really kill you?

I would get DiGiorno instead, or they could lower their prices two bucks and I'd tip two bucks. But that's silly, so like normal people it's built into their hourly wage.

And who charges for delivery?

I think some people actually do charge, but when I said "pay for" I was referring to the tip. Get it? Or do you think take-out orders should get 20%, delivery 40, 50, 60%? Surely it's easier to hand a pizza over the counter than drive it to my apartment!

Why would waitresses get 25% and waiters only 20% (and not a penny more!). Tell me, after you break out your pocket calculator if 20% comes out to $2.375 do you round up or down?

I usually round down for waiters. I don't believe in waiters. 19.5% is plenty, considering 15% is the minimum and 20% the standard. (And I was a math major, I don't need a calculator.) Like I want to talk to some damn guy, screw that. It's almost as bad as "stewards" -- but of course it's all "flight attendants" now.

Ooops, I guess that makes four questions.

That's okay, I gave you more than four answers. I have a question for you, though: are you always an insulting, self-righteous sanctimonious jerk or just today?

[Riley]

What a contrast. Didn't Slick get criticised for ducking a restaurant bill and tip in some exclusive place in England?

[antaresequity]

I know I'm being extremely picky here, but what is "high-priced money"?? Is there a difference between high-priced money and low-priced money?

Thats in economics 102...

High priced money is money spent for more than what it is worth. Seeing as this was 'Stretch' Gregory, anything spent on him is basically worthless. His product is biased, innacurate reporting, and hence is high-priced. So the money in his pocket is high-priced.

An example of low-priced money is the money in my pocket, or your pocket.

[antaresequity]

Thank you, I'm a waitress

People who don't tip take out, probably tip less than 15% too

I tip 20% minimum on anything less than 100 bucks...and somtimes as high as 30% when I eat out alone.

Many people do not realize that wait staff make minimum wage, and their tips are the real money. Further, they have to tip out the bar, the bus and cooks too...from the tip you left behind.

It may be rude on my part, but if someone else is picking up the tab on a card, I insist on picking up the tip in cash. That way I know the person serving us was fairly treated. Likewise, if the tip is paid in cash, I will bump it up if I feel its light.

People who stiff the staff on a tip are lower than low...scum if you ask me

[antaresequity]

The next thing you know there's going to be a tip jar at the checkout line of the supermarket.

LOL...what if you were at the IRS office and saw a tip jar at that counter?

[Cable225]

That's okay, I gave you more than four answers. I have a question for you, though: are you always an insulting, self-righteous sanctimonious jerk or just today?

Ease up, guy. What was insulting? You're the one with the "formula" for who and what and what percentage and when.

I just asked you to clarify it because the waiter/waitress thing was "peculiar". And quite frankly, it's kind of amusing being called an "insulting, self-righteous sanctimonious jerk" by someone that can put in print "I don't believe in waiters".

[Cable225]

People who stiff the staff on a tip are lower than low...scum if you ask me

Some people are too ignorant to know the difference.

My favorite saying - " a person who is nice to you, but mean to the waiter is NOT a nice person".

[kevkrom]

People who don't tip take out, probably tip less than 15% too

I never tip take-out, but I tip table service a minimum of 15%, 20% for good service.

[Old Student]

"I tip the boy at Subway who makes my sub just the way I like it..."

I grew up on a waitress's tips, my Mom being a waitress. I tend to tip heavily for decent service, and I NEVER go out to eat unless I can afford to tip. However, the local Subway's kids are former high-school students of mine, and they tell me they get fired if they accept a tip. Supposedly company policy.

[mcg1969]

Safeway just earned my respect. Kudos to them for not participating in this unwarranted expansion of the tipping phenomenon---basically an excuse for companies to pay their employees less.

[mcg1969]

Duh, I meant Subway, not Safeway.

[Benrand]

That guy gegory is such a poofy pompous preening pontificator.

I think GW likes tweeking Davie. Hilarious...I can see GW doing it. Gregry was the emdia queen who decided to speak French when GW was in France a couplea years ago...Bush didn't appreciate his linguistic skills and smacked him down.

[waRNmother.armyboots]

"People who don't tip take out, probably tip less than 15% too"

I think that is a pretty big assumption. My husband and I always tip 20% and occasionally more. Miss Manners states that a 20% tip is customary.
When our sons graduated from high school we took the family and grandparents out to an expensive restaurant. The tip was more than I would have made in a half day of work as a clinic RN. Does that seem appropriate to you?
By the way, my husband worked as wait staff at a restaurant and he too always is generous, but rarely more than 20% and never for take out.