Saturday, February 02, 2013

Delayed Response

On Wednesday a waitress at a St. Louis area Applebee's restaurant was stiffed by the pastor of a church on the Illinois side of Mississippi River. The waitress posted an image of what the stiffer wrote on the bill:


Now as an atheist I would be tempted to say, "I exist, God doesn't." Or I could say, "I worked, God didn't."

On Wednesday I started to write a rant on the subject for my blog but I was not happy with the text and decided that more thought on the subject was necessary. Here's what I wrote:

When I was a delivery driver for Pizza Hut I used to dread orders from hardcore Democrats and union members, a status usually indicated by a sign on the front lawn of a sticker on the front door. These people would never tip. The worst case of abuse I experienced was from an African-American man wearing a t-shirt with the image of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the place of Che Guevara, I waited standing in a cold thundershower while this person counted out the exact amount of the transaction down to the penny with no tip added. And I had to stand there like a good delivery driver and smile. Why does this clearly abusive behavior occur? The theory I held at the time was that the person believed that their ideological status exempted them from treating working people decently.

To put it another way it appeared that the illusion of moral supremacy allowed these people to behave in an apparently despicable manner.

As of Friday the waitress was fired for violating corporate policy.

7 comments:

Dave Hall said...

Historically a tip is given for service "over and above" just putting a plate down and filling a glass.

To the Pastor I would say "If her service was that bad why didn't you speak to the manager? What has happened to your Christian ethic? Oh by the way, Pastor, 10% is a minimum tithe. Glad to know you are a cheapskate all around."

To the waitress I would say "If this response bothers you, get an education and get a job outside a service industry that is allowed to pay you at half minimum wage or below and expects you to make it up with tips."

This is one more example of the government intruding on the work place and a jerk that should turn in his collar.

Anonymous said...

The Pastor did not stiff the waitress. That must be the second bill.
The waitress auto tipped her self 18% on the first bill.
Found the story on Yahoo.com

Leslie Bates said...

I suppose that you believe in the concept of God too?

Anonymous said...

I believe in God.
I believe everything happens for a reason.

I need to sleep pain meds are kicking in.
Love Atlas Shrugged, you told me I should read it.



Leslie Bates said...

Who are you? Have we met before?

Oh. I do make mistakes from time to time.

Anonymous said...

Sherrie Smith in the people republic of Kalifornia.
We used to email back and forth.
Les you are not wronge very often. :)

Leslie Bates said...

Um...Okay.