Are You Gonna Bark All Day Little Doggy, or are You Gonna Bite?

Hey, Hey. I have to go play softball so I'll keep this brief. Last night I went out with a few of my friends for drinks and wings while we watched the Cubs/Sox games. It's something we generally do every Monday evening, and its something that we all look forward too. Anyway, there were four of us initially and a fifth member that joined us halfway through the gathering. After about twenty minutes, the bar we were at was completely full. There are probably forty tables at this place and a full bar, not to mention outdoor seating as well. It was hopping. We all ordered our food and drinks and then a second round of drinks. The waitress was very nice and helpful (considering how packed the joint was) and accommodated us very nicely. About halfway through our time there, the fifth member of our group joined us. He sat down and waited for the waitress to come by so he could place his food/drink order. He continued to wait, and now all of us were ready for drinks...and all of us continued to wait. After about 15 minutes, our waitress finally came back and realized that we had a table full of empty plates/bottles, and a new member that wanted to order as well. She took our orders and then had us wait another 10 minutes or so before she brought our food/drinks (forgetting one of the drinks). She was polite, but was obviously stretched very thin as this place was busy, and she simply couldn't handle the workload. It got to be pretty frustrating as we waited and waited for everything (and that's only when we actually saw our waitress to place an order.) When we received our bill (after another 10 minute wait) it totalled $80.00. Now, I've never worked in a tip-based industry, but I always tip 20%. I also always tip $1 per drink when I order at a bar. It's just something that I believe in, and due to the fact that these people make far less than minimum wage and are completely dependant on their tips, I feel that this is the reasonable thing to do. With all of that being said, this waitress did NOT deserve a full 20% tip. I thought that the correct way to deal with this situation was to simply tip her 10% and send the message that we are NOT cheap bastards, but your performance was not worthy of a full 20% tip. I professed this to my friends and two of them agreed and proceeded to throw down the appropriate money, but two of them said that she deserved NO tip and that we were ridiculous for giving her 10%.

Hasn't everyone had a bad day at work before? Hasn't everyone experienced a time at their job where they were so busy that they may not have been able to give everyone the amount of attention that they would normally receive? I don't want to get into the whole "Reservoir Dogs" opening scene where Steve Buscemi refuses to tip the waitress because she CHOSE her profession, but I think it's cheap and ridiculous to not tip someone anything at all. Even my friend that came late and had to wait longer than anyone for his food/drinks ended up throwing down more than his share because he didn't want to be lumped in with the 2 cheapskates that wouldn't tip at all.

I think that everyone has friends (No tippin' Pippens) who behave in this way, and I'm sure that they all profess some great logic on why they're superior for doing it. But guess what. You're not proving any point or setting some standard on how society should behave...you're simply just a cheap asshole.

Sorry for the abbreviated rap today, we'll get back into it tomorrow. I have to go kick ESPN's ass in softball. Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to ESPN's "Sports Nation" on TV in the background...boring, but better than "Rome is Burning." Drinks of Choice: Blue Gatorade, softball time.

Peace the F.
Webby