Of course, as I get closer to my trip, I get more anxious. When this happens, many of the things that normally bother me no longer seem important. They become transitory. Of course, some things still do. Probably the best "sparring partner" for hashing out gripes that I've found is my ex-roommate Rayna. When we're chatting, it sounds to outsiders like we're attacking one another, but we're really just having a good time. Most of the time. Occasionally, someone slips, or one of us is overly sensative, and that's where the trouble begins.
Tonight, after work, we ate at a bar. We split the bill, and disagreed over the tip. Our totals were close, her's around $16.50, and mine about $20.50. Basically, I was leaving the girl 19.5% of my part of the bill. Rayna was leaving almost double that. She expecte me to as well. Rayna was upset that our checks were together. I was "riding on the coattails of her tip." I was charging the bill, so I gave her some of the cash back and told her to tell the waitress that I "was a cheap bastard," and to give it to her as specifically from her.
I consider the service mediocre at best. 15% was sufficient for me. There was no way that I was leaving %40 for bad service. I'm a server, and I wouldn't do that. It's true that those in the service industry often overtip. A friend who's a bartender (and P.H.D. candidate in African Studies, so you can believe she's a smart cookie!) has a policy of always asking the server to add 20% to the bill. She says it actually saves money.
It's all behind me now anyway, so "No worries!" I'm NY bound in 2 days!
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