Life in the hospitality bussiness

I have worked in food and beverage for the better part of 6 years and had some interesting experiences. Thought I would share some of those with you! *side note: I have worked in almost all positions in the business so some of them are pretty interesting* if you would like to hear more please let me know! I have hundreds!

THE NO TIPPER- I once had a family of four sit in my section. They had a 2 year old and a 7 to 10 year. I love kids and have no problem dealing with families. They were pleasant enough throughout the dining experience, the older child was well behaved and extremely polite. The younger child was throwing fits the whole night. I understand how hard it can be to go out with kids. I paid no mind of it and told the mother (who repeatedly apologized for her child) that it was fine. At the end I brought them their bill and told the usual "thank you, it has been a pleasure and I hope to see you again soon" The father took the check and told me to wait, he would be paying in cash and didn't want to leave the money on the table. He put exact change in the book and handed it to me with a smile. I asked if he had enjoyed everything. He looked at me as if I had offended him. He then responded with "is this because you didn't get a tip?" Shocked I stuttered out that I was just curious. He then proceeded to tell me he didn't understand why it was expected of him to pay me extra so that I could go out and buy drugs. Flabbergasted I asked him what made him think I was on drugs, he responded with I must be since I work in a place like this. The restaurant was owned by a retired firefighter and his wife. I went back and told the owner what happened and he went out to explain to the gentleman that we were paid a lower hourly wage ($4.26 ph) because of the tipping system and if he felt that was unreasonable that maybe he shouldn't be going out to eat. The family left, with a huge mess behind them and still no tip.

THE COIN THEIF- I was bartending one night where a man who was staying at a nearby hotel came in for a few drinks. Since we weren't slammed I didn't require him to start a tab with a card. He stayed until after closing and after I had cut him off. When I had done everything but mop the floors, I asked him to close his tab with me so I could do my checkout and close the drawer. He gave me a drunken smile as he stood and pulled out his wallet. Looking through he said he left his debit card in the hotel room after he ordered pizza. He left his ID with me at the bar and said he would be right back. About an hour went by before he came back, but he said he couldn't find his debit card. Instead he handed me a bag full of old coins and asked if he could use it to pay his bill. I told him that I couldn't do that and if he couldn't pay his tab I would have to call the police. He continued to argue with me saying that these coins were worth a lot more than his tab, swearing I was getting the better end of the deal. The owner called the cops. Turns out he stole the coins from some one during an armed robbery and killed 2 people over them. That was an odd night

ICE CHARGE - we had a party of about 20 come in one night with no reservation and demanded that they sat at one long table. For as long as I live I will never understand that logic, any ways there was a man there who ordered 8 brandy on the rocks (for those of you who don't know, when you order a drink on the rocks it's straight liquor over ice) I gave him his bill and he was very upset seeing there was a $1 charge for rocks. He honestly couldn't believe it and I couldn't believe him. He thought we were charging him a dollar for ice! A rocks pour is 2 ounces of liquor where a standard pour is only 1 1/4. We have to charge more because you're getting more alcohol. I did my best to explain it to him and even had the bartender that night come over and show him the difference in the pours. His entire group was arguing with him and he still believed we charged him for ice! At the end of it all he payed for his bill and wrote "bitch" on the tip line, after telling me this would be the best tip I would ever receive.