Warren Sapp stiffs waitress

[rjshull]

I've explained why.

1) It's just food. My life isn't going to be ruined because a waitress wasn't friendly enough or it took a few minutes longer than expected to get my food.

2) I consider it expected. If I'm going to go make a purchase, I expect to pay taxes on it. If I'm going to a restaurant I expect to tip. For those who don't expect to do it - cook at home and don't go out to eat.

3) My starting point is roughly 20%. For really good service I will go to around 30%. I just usually don't deviate much from that range.

4) When I leave the establishment, I leave happy and knowing my dignity is in check. I have been "served" and I tipped. Maybe I made someone's day a little bit better and whether or not they went crazy out of their way for me is irrelevant. I expected to tip and I did.

** Let's say my meal was $50.00. And let's say I got less than great service. 20% is $10.00 and 10% is $5.00. In the grand scheme of things wtf is five dollars?

To a lot of people $5 is a lot of money; tons of kids would love to have that $5 so they can eat. To my kids, that is a lunch at school. but to inner city kids that might be the difference between eating anything today or not. With that kind of thought process I hope you donate to your local food pantries and charities.

 

[sonnyblack65]

Yes, the tip is part of the meal if the server gets less than minimum wage. I feel that serving at your average restaurant is a minimum wage type of job, maybe a little bit more but that is it. You do not have to have any skills to be a server; all you have to do is be able to bring me a drink and a plate of food. If at any time you fail to do those then you do not get anything as it is a gift from me to the server, if they have a problem with their wage then they need to get a new job, or get their manager to give them more than minimum wage don’t expect the customer to pay for it. A good friend of my dad’s owns a little dairy bar in his home town, as a kid he told me his business philosophy and I live by it, do not reduce service, quality, or quantity, increase price. If you take care of those three then you will have sales. If a server understands those items, then they will get a great tip, if not then sorry you need to get better.

Most of the time I will talk directly to the server about why I felt the service was poor, at the very least I will leave a note, as a manager I know that it is impossible for my employees to get better without any critical feedback. At the same time I do the same if you excel at your job. Just like any career, without knowing what you are doing wrong there is no chance that you can get better.

As far as your second point, if I take the wife out for a special occasion then I am not going to a local restaurant, I take her on a special weekend to a 7 star/5 Diamond hotel, and a 3 star restaurant. At that point then yes I am going to increase my tip along with my expectations but at the same time my bill is not going to be $50 for dinner, I will expect to pay between $500 to a $1,000 and at that point I would expect to put a couple hundred down in tip as it does get spread around, if the food quality is higher than expected then I put more down. At that type of restaurant there is virtually no chance at poor service. If you want a really nice experience I would suggest the Ithaa restaurant at the Maldives. The first time I was there was for my honey moon and the wife has made me go back 3 other times. I just love that restaurant, first off it is under water in a coral bed so there is sea life all around you and I personally love aquariums so it is the best for me.

Also, every single employer places a value on their employee, a customer does the same thing, if I look around at the tables that my server is at and it looks like they are having a hard time, or if they get stiffed for no reason then I will increase my tip to cover their losses. I also do this if the restaurant is dead, I routinely ask how their day was, have they been busy, and if they have had a good day then I do not give any extra, but if they have had a poor day then I feel that I should make up for it since I can afford it. I love to go out to eat, so does my family, we actually eat out more than we eat at home, and I typically let the kids choose where we go so a lot of times we go to Chili’s or Applebee’s, and the wait staff no us by name and for the most part they know our orders by heart. So if they get a small tip they know they screwed up, and I tell them that.

Sound like a big blowhard to me. Who cares about skills, who wants to bring you and your family plates and drinks for min wage. then you go on to having $500-1000 meals and gonna plunk down a few hundred dollars min on a tip. why do those fucks deserve that much from 1 cust and the min wage people nothing. Oh yeah skills, you big sparcone

 

[HizzleRocker]

Yes, the tip is part of the meal if the server gets less than minimum wage. I feel that serving at your average restaurant is a minimum wage type of job, maybe a little bit more but that is it. You do not have to have any skills to be a server; all you have to do is be able to bring me a drink and a plate of food. If at any time you fail to do those then you do not get anything as it is a gift from me to the server, if they have a problem with their wage then they need to get a new job, or get their manager to give them more than minimum wage don’t expect the customer to pay for it. A good friend of my dad’s owns a little dairy bar in his home town, as a kid he told me his business philosophy and I live by it, do not reduce service, quality, or quantity, increase price. If you take care of those three then you will have sales. If a server understands those items, then they will get a great tip, if not then sorry you need to get better.

Most of the time I will talk directly to the server about why I felt the service was poor, at the very least I will leave a note, as a manager I know that it is impossible for my employees to get better without any critical feedback. At the same time I do the same if you excel at your job. Just like any career, without knowing what you are doing wrong there is no chance that you can get better.

As far as your second point, if I take the wife out for a special occasion then I am not going to a local restaurant, I take her on a special weekend to a 7 star/5 Diamond hotel, and a 3 star restaurant. At that point then yes I am going to increase my tip along with my expectations but at the same time my bill is not going to be $50 for dinner, I will expect to pay between $500 to a $1,000 and at that point I would expect to put a couple hundred down in tip as it does get spread around, if the food quality is higher than expected then I put more down. At that type of restaurant there is virtually no chance at poor service. If you want a really nice experience I would suggest the Ithaa restaurant at the Maldives. The first time I was there was for my honey moon and the wife has made me go back 3 other times. I just love that restaurant, first off it is under water in a coral bed so there is sea life all around you and I personally love aquariums so it is the best for me.

Also, every single employer places a value on their employee, a customer does the same thing, if I look around at the tables that my server is at and it looks like they are having a hard time, or if they get stiffed for no reason then I will increase my tip to cover their losses. I also do this if the restaurant is dead, I routinely ask how their day was, have they been busy, and if they have had a good day then I do not give any extra, but if they have had a poor day then I feel that I should make up for it since I can afford it. I love to go out to eat, so does my family, we actually eat out more than we eat at home, and I typically let the kids choose where we go so a lot of times we go to Chili’s or Applebee’s, and the wait staff no us by name and for the most part they know our orders by heart. So if they get a small tip they know they screwed up, and I tell them that.

Pardon me, but that's complete bullshit. We are expected to pay for it. If you didn't know, most restaurants go under in a short period of time. It is one of the most risky business investments there are. People are used to paying a certain amount for their food, and the places have to make sure they keep their food at a certain cost. The way they do that is in part by being able to pay their staff less.

You think it's so simple as to just say, get the manager to pay them more. Lol. Great, you do that. What happens next is they are forced to jack up the cost of the food. Next, you will be the one bitching on why it cost $15.00 to get a hamburger. Wanna pay 8 bucks for that same burger instead? Then tip your damn server.

Like I said - it's part of the meal.

 

[Wazmankg]

I don't know the context of the word boy. I had somebody call me boy before and I'm not black. So I wouldn't assume necessarily that it was a racist remark. It could just be a way of talking. Obviously, not in this situation, but it could also be flirting.

Calling black men boys is a no-no. Are there people who are not aware of this ? Well she knows now I guess.

 

[sonnyblack65]

Calling black men boys is a no-no. Are there people who are not aware of this ? Well she knows now I guess.[/

I know its semantics but I have said to young black men on basketball courts " how are you boys doing today?' and none got mad and politely responded. Now if I said " listen boy" thats the disrespect

 

[Wazmankg]

Posts 14, 17, and 22.

I don't know how she said boy.

I get what you're saying but it really doesn't matter. A waitress who's living depends upon pleasing her customers should know better than to refer to 40-something black men as "boys". Now she knows and I'd can her ass if I was her manager and she was the one who went public with this.

 

[Wazmankg]

And thank you for telling everyone that you have committed tax evasion. My ex-wife would routinely claim just 8% of her tips. As a CPA I am telling you that you must claim 100% of your tips, otherwise you can end up in jail.

Well then you know that none of them do, right ?

 

[Wazmankg]

Sound like a big blowhard to me. Who cares about skills, who wants to bring you and your family plates and drinks for min wage. then you go on to having $500-1000 meals and gonna plunk down a few hundred dollars min on a tip. why do those fucks deserve that much from 1 cust and the min wage people nothing. Oh yeah skills, you big sparcone

My wife, daughter and I ate dinner at this restaurant at Rockefeller Center overlooking the ice on Christmas night last year. Our bill came to $500. So I charged it and dropped 2 50s on the table and we sat there finishing our drinks. I often go > 20% if service is good but figured $100 was enough in this case. There were just the 3 of us and we weren't much trouble. Our waiter kept thanking me and wishing me a merry Christmas... you'd think I'd just given him new car or something. By his reaction it was clear to me that he didn't expect, nor normally get, the standard 20% on bills that size.

 

[Wazmankg]

Pardon me, but that's complete bullshit. We are expected to pay for it. If you didn't know, most restaurants go under in a short period of time. It is one of the most risky business investments there are. People are used to paying a certain amount for their food, and the places have to make sure they keep their food at a certain cost. The way they do that is in part by being able to pay their staff less.

You think it's so simple as to just say, get the manager to pay them more. Lol. Great, you do that. What happens next is they are forced to jack up the cost of the food. Next, you will be the one bitching on why it cost $15.00 to get a hamburger. Wanna pay 8 bucks for that same burger instead? Then tip your damn server.

Like I said - it's part of the meal.

While I agree that tipping should be accepted as part of eating out, I disagree with your opinion that we should tip the standard regardless of the service. If the server is not busy and the service is bad and/or rude, the tip should reflect that and we should write a brief note on the bill. Rewarding bad service just perpetuates bad service. Some people aren't cut out to be servers (and it's a lot more demanding than rj seems to think). They need to get better or seek other means of employment. The fewer who let them know that the less likely that is to happen.

 

[Wazmankg]

I know its semantics but I have said to young black men on basketball courts " how are you boys doing today?' and none got mad and politely responded. Now if I said " listen boy" thats the disrespect

It depends somewhat on the respective ages, too. But it's something a waitress should stay away from regardless. Overly informal/friendly servers is a pet peeve of mine, fwiw. It was a sports bar which is supposed to be more informal, so there's that going for her. In general, you save yourself a lot of trouble and embarrassment by not referring to black 40-somethings as boys.

 

[sonnyblack65]

My wife, daughter and I ate dinner at this restaurant at Rockefeller Center overlooking the ice on Christmas night last year. Our bill came to $500. So I charged it and dropped 2 50s on the table and we sat there finishing our drinks. I often go > 20% if service is good but figured $100 was enough in this case. There were just the 3 of us and we weren't much trouble. Our waiter kept thanking me and wishing me a merry Christmas... you'd think I'd just given him new car or something. By his reaction it was clear to me that he didn't expect, nor normally get, the standard 20% on bills that size.

abolutely enough. $100 clams is plenty for 1 table they wait on only 5 tables that 500 a night. While some of the lower end joints, the waitress or waiter might only make $50 all night and mostly single moms work at those establishements, so rather tip them better, than to support a Benz or Bimmer at high end joints

 

[rjshull]

Sound like a big blowhard to me. Who cares about skills, who wants to bring you and your family plates and drinks for min wage. then you go on to having $500-1000 meals and gonna plunk down a few hundred dollars min on a tip. why do those fucks deserve that much from 1 cust and the min wage people nothing. Oh yeah skills, you big sparcone

Sparcone, ha, yeah right.

It is called vacation for a reason, yes I make very good money, and with a little bit of savings anyone can enjoy the finer things in life.

 

[rjshull]

While I agree that tipping should be accepted as part of eating out, I disagree with your opinion that we should tip the standard regardless of the service. If the server is not busy and the service is bad and/or rude, the tip should reflect that and we should write a brief note on the bill. Rewarding bad service just perpetuates bad service. Some people aren't cut out to be servers (and it's a lot more demanding than rj seems to think). They need to get better or seek other means of employment. The fewer who let them know that the less likely that is to happen.

No I know how demanding it is, my first wife use to work for Chili's while I was in the AF, routinely I would go and sit at the bar at night while she was working so I could spend a little bit of time with her. I never said it is not a mentally or physically demanding job like a doctor or mason.

Hell, last night I took my wife and my youngest kid out to Outback, they had a new server that I never saw before and we went through a loaf of bread, he then took the cutting board off the table without asking if we were done with it, or if we would like another loaf. That pissed me off, so I asked for another loaf before the food came out and he once again took the board with bread still on it away from the table when the meal got there. The place was not busy, and he got a very small tip, on the receipt I let him know why he did and that I expected more from a server.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

It depends somewhat on the respective ages, too. But it's something a waitress should stay away from regardless. Overly informal/friendly servers is a pet peeve of mine, fwiw. It was a sports bar which is supposed to be more informal, so there's that going for her. In general, you save yourself a lot of trouble and embarrassment by not referring to black 40-somethings as boys.

Oh please. You are making a lot of assumptions. I certainly would not refer to anyone like that. However - lots of other people might & would do so in a very endearing way. As a matter of fact some older folks being referred to in this manner - regardless of race - might actually feel good about it. Sounds like you are being way too sensitive on this one. Do we have to get to the point where we agonize over every word (no matter how innocent) we say regardless of intent?

 

[ATL96Steeler]

You do not have to have any skills to be a server

You wrote out a lot there and make some good points...this is the only part I would say is incorrect.

If you're going to make a decent living as a waiter or waitress...I think you need a good personality, and it helps to have a good memory.

I don't agree with zero tip for bad service, but you are entitled.

 

[JDM]

If you do a shitty job, you don't deserve a tip.


If you don't do a good enough job to earn enough on tips to live on, find a job you suck less at.

 

[RoboticDreams]

I get what you're saying but it really doesn't matter. A waitress who's living depends upon pleasing her customers should know better than to refer to 40-something black men as "boys". Now she knows and I'd can her ass if I was her manager and she was the one who went public with this.

That's absurd and if he was sooo offended, he would have left the restaurant immediately or asked to see the manager. There isn't enough information to make an accurate assessment, IMO. He could be a serial non-tipper for all we know. She could be married to a Grand Wizard. All we have to go on is a receipt with a little handwritten note and a twitter post littered with horrifying grammar and spelling.

 

[#1BostonFan]

He's broke...I'm surprised he paid for the meal.

 

[RoboticDreams]

He's broke...I'm surprised he paid for the meal.

He sold another pair of Jordan's to pay for it.

 

[Wazmankg]

Oh please. You are making a lot of assumptions. I certainly would not refer to anyone like that. However - lots of other people might & would do so in a very endearing way. As a matter of fact some older folks being referred to in this manner - regardless of race - might actually feel good about it. Sounds like you are being way too sensitive on this one. Do we have to get to the point where we agonize over every word (no matter how innocent) we say regardless of intent?

I'm not sensitive at all about it. I'm simply trying to educate here. Many, if not most, black men are going to get offended when referred to as boys by whites. They don't find it at all "endearing" whether you think they should or not and that isn't going to change. There is a perfectly valid reason for this and it should be obvious to anyone with any knowledge of the history of race relations in this country.