Countless times over my illustrious 8-year stint on the restaurant industry, I have seen people come and go. Far too often, after they leave, they forget where they came from. This makes me far more angry than it probably should. I hate for someone that I just worked with two weeks ago, but has since quit, to come in, run me to death, treat me like garbage, then stiff me on the tip. This is the same person who was just complaining about a random customer doing this to her three weeks ago. It's shitty enough when Random Dan does this, but I think maybe he's just ignorant to the ways of the service industry. Former co-workers, on the other hand, have no excuse. They know what it's like to work for tips.
A former co-worker of mine at Pizza Place came in to eat today. We had worked together for about 8 months before she quit, or maybe she got fired, I'm really not sure. It was my turn for a table, so her and her boyfriend were mine to wait on. I was thinking, "Sweet!!! Easy tip." Boy, was I wrong. Her and her boyfriend ordered a ton of food. About half of that was salads and apps that I had to make myself. I took them their drinks, then started their apps cooking while I made their salads. I took their salads out, followed by their apps. A short while later, I took them their food. Everything was fine and dandy. The bitch didn't eat most of the shit she ordered, nor did she want a box to take the rest of it home. So, I took them their check. She came up front to pay the bill for her and her deadbeat boyfriend. She wanted to pay $20 in cash and put the rest on her card. This was my first sign of trouble, "uh-oh," I thought. Then I thought, "Well, maybe she just doesn't have much cash on her, and she'll put my tip on the card." A big fucking negative on that. "Well maybe she left it on the table, I mean she did work here for 8 months, she knows how it is." Wrong again! When I went over to clean the table there was nothing but garbage, half-eaten food, and disappointment. I know I shouldn't let it get to me, and i don't when it's a random customer who might not know better, but it really burns my biscuits when it happens with a former server. There's no excuse for it. She couldn't have even left two dollars? She couldn't have shared a salad with Deadbeat Boyfriend, instead of getting one for each of them and not eating it, then left me the price of that for a tip? Spare change? Anything? I usually let annoyances like that slide right off my back, but for some reason I just couldn't let this go. It might have been because I didn't get much sleep last night. Maybe it was that today was my last day before my days off, so I was tired. It could have been that I walked out of work today with only $16 in my pocket. Or, possibly I had just filled my quota of idiots this week. I honestly don't know for sure, but I held onto that incident until it was a big ball of hideous spite in the pit of my stomach. I'm not proud of what I did next, and I'm sure I will have to suffer the consequences.
I came home a little bit earlier than normal because it was so slow. When I walked in the door, I was still fuming. I got even angrier when I realized that bitch had caused me to bring my work home with me. So, I went to my lap top and looked her up on social media. I sent her a message. This is what it said:
Hey, I'm so glad you came in to eat today. I had so much fun making all those salads and appetizers that you ordered, but never ate. It was a blast cleaning all the mess off of the table after you left, too. When I saw that humongous tip you left, I jumped and danced as my heart was filled with joy! What a truly fulfilling experience you gave me today and, for that, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please come back to see me again soon, and, once again, thank you sooo much for your generosity.
I know it's horrible, and it didn't make me feel any better. From the second I pressed "send", I wished I could reach into my computer and take it back, but what's done is done. Today, I am ashamed to say, I let my anger and frustration get the better of me. If she calls the store to complain, then I will have to take whatever punishment my manager deems appropriate. It's my cross to bear. Then again, that girl has more cents than sense, so maybe she will take my message as sincere instead of sarcastic. Either way, I will take whatever is coming in stride be it good, or, not-so-good.
I have two days off ahead of me, and I will definitely NOT be posting again until Monday. I've got a class reunion. Every other minute of my weekend, I will be relaxing in whomever's pool I can convince to let me in. If you're off, like me, then have a great weekend. If you're working, then I hope you make stacks of cash. Until Monday....
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