I did something I wished I hadn’t done tonight. In the big scheme of things it will probably not be a big issue, but all the way home I’ve been stressed about it. So what is it I did tonight?
I had a lovely group of four Englishmen sitting at my counter tonight. Over the course of the two hours they were there, they racked up a 201.00 dollar check. Toward the end of their time with me they started asking where they should go to listen to live music, preferably something sort of jazzy.
Just so you know this is a big red flag to me. 99.99999 percent of the time, when someone asks where they should go after they leave my restaurant they are good for no more than a 10% tip.
So I was a little bit weary of the question. So I threw out some suggestions. And they asked me to write them down. I was busy at the time so I told them I’d write them down later.
Then they asked for the check. And they hand me the check with the money inside and ask once again for me to write down where they should go.
And so I go to the kitchen.
I open the receipt with the money inside.
And they’ve given me 210.00. Nine dollars on a two hundred fucking dollar check.
Let me repeat that. Nine dollars on a two hundred fucking dollar check.
So I ask a couple of people in the kitchen where I should send four people who only tip nine bucks on a two hundred fucking dollar check.
After much deliberation it was decided I should send them to…
The Cock.
It’s an East Village gay bar. That’s a lot on the sleazy side. A LOT on the sleazy side. So I wrote down directions, walked back out, and gave it to them. Thanked them profusely and walked away.
And now I’m stressed they’ll call and complain tomorrow and I’ll get fired and be unemployed and homeless and miserable.
Will that happen. Not likely. I’ve tried to decide if I actually did anything against restaurant policy. I didn’t give them bad service. I didn’t comment on their tip. I thanked them and told them to be sure and come back. I just perhaps gave them directions to a gay bar instead of a jazz bar.
Now I need to let it go.
What’s done is done and stressing about it, isn’t going to change it.
And I guess the big question is whether I regret doing it.
Would you?
February 20, 2009 at 6:45 am |
If you weren’t having second thoughts, I’d be worried about you. It was a crappy thing to do, but nothing to lose your job over.
You said they were English. That should have clued you in the moment they sat down (that the tip would be light or nonexistent).
February 20, 2009 at 9:28 am |
Yeah, I’d stress about it. The karma deficit would concern me. However, karma is like dieting in that you can make up for a slip in behavior by returning to good behavior.
February 20, 2009 at 9:59 am |
I just heard a story on NPR about a guy in London who racked up a $60k bill at a restaurant and left $8k as a tip.
February 20, 2009 at 12:00 pm |
The service was good and the tip was lousy, don’t worry about it, maybe they had a great night out and can’t remember a thing in the morning from all the booze.
February 20, 2009 at 9:26 pm |
Don’t sweat it. Once they arrived there, they will see the err of they ways and realized they deserved it more that you did the tip they left.
February 20, 2009 at 11:29 pm |
hello!
I finally found my way here.
I too would have channeled some wickedness and recommended a dive.
After all people should know a good tip leads to a good ‘tip’.
March 3, 2009 at 9:01 pm |
I’d have ben worried about my job, too but other than that I don’t think you did anything wrong. (Besides, if they HAD called your boss you just laugh and say “oh my God — that means I sent those queens looking for a good time to that nice little jazz bar in the village!”)