My wife and I saw this in the early 90′s, and we still shake our heads about it.
We went to a moderately upscale restaurant in coastal California and were seated next to a party of four, two men and two women, who were in their late 30′s. They had finished their appetizers and were getting their entrées as we ordered. As we worked through our meal our neighbors finished up with coffee and dessert. Then the fun began.
A fifth person joined their table just before the bill arrived. From what we could overhear, he was the boyfriend of one of the women and planned to take her out after she’d eaten. However, the other diners persuaded him to order his own entrée. As this delayed their departure by at least another half hour, their waitress was obviously upset and we overheard her tell them she had another party ready for the table. They went ahead with their extra order anyway, and added a dessert for him, too.
At the end of the meal, we overheard the principal instigator of the extra meal claim that the waitress was “rude” and didn’t deserve a tip. The other original man at the table said no, she deserved something and put a significant amount of cash on the table, but the host ended up gathering all the money and leaving it to the penny – no tip on a meal close to $150! Since her other party was put elsewhere she lost two substantial gratuities. And to top it off, the second woman at the table, who had had chocolate mousse for dessert, threw up her meal on the table just before they left.
I assume they went back to their trailers for the evening.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
As someone who was a waitress for many years while in college, I can empathize with the waitress. And there is no excuse for the disgusting behavior of the guests. However, I have to confess: I HATE when waitresses rush you to accomodate another party. Having lived in Europe now for 5 years, i have come to appreciate having the table to myself for as long as I want it, and not feeling like I am just a cog in the tip wheel for the servers. It’s a double edged dinner knife, to be sure.
WHAT A BUNCH OF PRICKS… I HOPE SOMEONE THROWS UP ON THEIR PORCH. THEY HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT. I’M GLAD THAT THEY ARE ONLY MAYBE 5 OUT OF 10,000 DINERS WHO WOULD PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT. I HOPE THEY GET THE RUNS NEXT TIME THEY EAT OUT… THEY DESERVE IT…
I’m pretty sure any sophisticated restaurant wouldn’t allow such a late seating, or explain that the table was already at the cocktail stage and no longer taking entree orders.
If you don’t like it, please visit JimBobRay’s endless buffet down the road.
What restaurants do you have? I have never been to one that would accept this (unless it’s a student place where the tab will double for little added work).
How do you throw up ON the table? What kind of grown up adult does something like that?
You gotta be kidding me. People like that should be locked into their trailers……….
Pretty sad situation. The time for tipping is near and end. Employers need to realize it is out dated and start paying the servers appropriately. THIS CAN ALL BE AVOIDED
When I wasn’t management, I used to get really upset about things like this. Now that I’m a manager, I can see things like this coming from a mile away. I’ll occasionally take over a table from a server (with the understanding that the server will get the gratuity) and bend over backwards to ensure a seamless dining experience for people that I know are going to do anything they can to avoid paying even a penny over the actual amount of the bill.
Although I’d have never encouraged the table to move out to make way for another party, I’d certainly have had words with the idiot who collected the cash tip — making sure that whomever put the cash on the table in the first place knew about it. I have a little talk about karma that I give to people like that (well, those of them who can wrap themselves around a concept like “karma.”)
So far as the woman who’d vomited on the table. That’s cause to ask the rest of the party (I’ll assume they weren’t astute enough to have a designated driver) for their car keys, thus incurring a taxi expense as well. Vomiting is prima facie evidence of being intoxicated. Period. Where we’re at, there are pretty serious consequences to vomiting in a public restaurant, unless you’re suddenly stricken with a stomach virus, that is.