Page 16 - Italina-American Herald - January 2025

16 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | JANUARY 2025 ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
IT’S ALL GOOD
A gratuitous offer: My years of experience with dining and tipping
By Charlie Sacchetti
If there is one
thing in life I’ll
never understand
it is this … Why
would a waiter or
waitress, whose very
livelihood depends
on the tips they
earn, be unfriendly or act miserably to
their customers? I have eaten in a lot of
establishments on both sides of the Delaware
River and it never ceases to amaze me when I
come across such a server. I can even tolerate
incompetence as long as the person is trying
their best and is at least acting in a friendly
manner.
I am a good tipper. I appreciate the fact
that servers make their living on tips and I
usually will leave at least 25 percent. Besides,
being a good tipper usually assures me that
I’ll get great service on my next visit as I tend
to seek out those servers I know do a good
job. However, as I look back on my many
business meals and those with family and
friends, some experiences come to mind that
were less than pleasant. That being said, in all
of my years, I have only not left a tip on one
occasion.
A few years ago, I had breakfast with one
of my customers at one of our local diners. A
new waitress approached to take our order.
She seemed friendly enough and after she
brought the coffee, I placed my order for
a ham and cheese omelet with an English
muffin.
Then I said, “I don’t want any home fries,
please bring me a fruit cup instead. She
acknowledged the order.
After about 10 minutes she brought out
the food. My customer got his creamed chip
beef on toast, which is what he wanted.
I got my omelet, my English muffin and
enough home fries on my plate to feed me,
her and my customer! When I asked her
if she remembered me saying I wanted the
fruit cup instead of the fries, she looked at
me and said, “Do you want me to leave the
potatoes on the plate?” I said that I didn’t
and then she brought me the fruit cup with
the potatoes removed. It seemed strange
to me that she seemed more interested in
where the unwanted potatoes ended up
than apologizing for the error. Apparently,
this all made her a bit gun shy and she never
returned to check with us and refill our coffee
cups, avoiding our table at all costs.
After getting our second cup from the
cashier, who saw we were empty, I called
the waitress over to get the check. When she
finally reappeared, she gave me the check,
smiled and said “Have a great day.” That was
good enough for me. I gave her a $5 tip on
an $18 bill. I figured she may have been a
rookie and just made some rookie mistakes.
Then there was the time about 25 years
ago at an Italian restaurant in nearby Mount
Laurel, N.J. The owner of my company was
a wealthy Canadian, who upon visits to the
States would invite several of the sales staff
and their families to dinner. He was a very
generous man. As the 12 of us sat at the
table, it came time for him to order. In the
clearest language imaginable, he told the
waiter that he wanted a filet mignon. He said
that he wanted it very well done and he did
not want to see the least bit of pink on that
piece of meat. The waiter smiled because the
order was placed with a friendly manner but
the seriousness of the request could not be
misunderstood.
So, after glasses of wine all around and
some friendly conversation, out came the
food. When the waiter brought the filet to
the boss, I took one look and had to bite my
tongue so I wouldn’t laugh. The filet looked
like it was a piece of meat that was delivered
right from the butcher shop … the rarest of
rare. The boss was not pleased and refused
to accept a replacement. I have no idea what
that waiter was thinking when he put that
filet in front of the boss but I know his face
ended up as red as that beautiful piece of
meat. I don’t think he received a hefty tip
from his patron who ended up having a
liquid dinner.
Which leads us to the one time I did
not leave the server a tip. After working all
morning, doing some strategic planning with
two of our other managers, I decided to take
them to lunch at a diner in Delran, N.J. I
had been there many times and was usually
very satisfied. Besides, Dennis was from
Indiana and Fred lived in Warminster, Pa.,
so this diner would be a new experience for
them. As we entered the diner, Fred noticed
the large pastry case and being a chocolate
lover, made mention of the beautiful
ADOBE
eclair beckoning to him from its place of
prominence. We sat down and ordered from
a middle-aged waitress that I hadn’t seen
before. She didn’t look too happy but was
polite enough. When we were finished our
lunch, she came back and asked if there
was anything else we needed. My chocolate-
loving friend is also an extremely polite,
soft-spoken guy and in his nicest voice said,
“Ma’am, if you would be so gracious, when I
walked in here I saw a chocolate éclair on the
top left shelf of your pastry case. Would you
please bring it to me?”
The woman went nuts!!
She screamed, “What do you think I am?
I can’t be running all around the restaurant
getting you stuff. I have all of these tables to
take care of. Go get it yourself.” The three
of us looked at each other dumbfounded. I
looked around to see if we were on “Candid
Camera.” I said to the waitress, “Maybe I’m
crazy, sweetie, but I thought it’s your job to go
and bring us the food so we can eat it?”
With that she threw the check on the
table and stormed off. We got up and left
wondering if we had crossed over into the
“Twilight Zone.” I left no tip and haven’t
second-guessed myself yet.
Like I said at the outset, there are
some things I’ll never understand but I do
know that if your living depends upon the
appreciation and generosity of others, it
makes sense to be nice to them.
Charlie Sacchetti is the author of three
books, “It’s All Good: Times and Events I’d
Never Want to Change;” “Knowing He’s There:
True Stories of God’s Subtle Yet Unmistakable
Touch,” and his newest, “Savoring the
Moments: True Stories of Happiness, Sadness
and Everything in Between.” He was raised in
Philadelphia and lives in Cinnaminson, New
Jersey. Contact him at worthwhilewords21@
gmail.com. IAH
“I said to the waitress,
“Maybe I’m crazy, sweetie, but
I thought it’s your job to go and
bring us the food so we can eat it?”
With that she threw the check on
the table and stormed off.