CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The general manager of a Charlotte restaurant is standing behind an employee who she says was stiffed on a tip and instead left a religious pamphlet from a local church. Penny Craver, general manager of Dish, says one of her employees, who’s also a student, was really upset on Saturday after receiving a religious pamphlet from her guests in lieu of a tip. Servers are increasingly reporting the practice, in which the pamphlets often look at first like $10 or $20 bills…. Craver looked up the church listed on the pamphlet, Harbor Baptist Church in Charlotte, and wrote an email to the church’s pastor.
I’ve written more than once about my experience waiting tables; it’s how I put myself through my last year of college. Having that experience has left me with a boundless appreciation for restaurant servers. Those who’ve never done it day in and day out very often lack the perspective and compassion that comes from having people treat you like a second class citizen. It’s a tough, demanding job- made worse by low pay and being wedged between the often ridiculous demands of customers and the sometimes impossible expectations of management.
In this country, tipping is customary- generally 15%-20% depending on who you listen to, and I’ve always gone by a very simple rule: If you can’t afford to leave a tip, go to McDonalds. Or, better yet, just stay home. The person busting their tail to serve you may be making a base salary of less- significantly less- than minimum wage, the expectation being that they’ll make enough in tips to lift them above it. Given that minimum wage in most states in under $10, this doesn’t begin to be fair compensation for those who do their best to juggle multiple responsibilities and expectations while also serving as the face of the restaurant.
That someone would leave a religious tract disguised as a $20 bill in lieu of a tip is as arrogant and indefensible as it is unconscionable. How self-righteous and self-superior must one be to believe that attending to the eternal life of a server is a sufficient and reasonable tip? What sort of hypocrites go through life believing that their faith allows them to bulldoze social norms and conventions? What sort of classless moron stiffs a server because…Jesus??
I will grant the person(s) who left the tract their right to their beliefs; that’s not the issue here. Their classless stiffing of a server in the belief that they’re offering something more valuable than a tip is. They may believe their faith to be of far more value than filthy lucre, but it’s not going to help the server pay their mortgage or feed their child.
If you can’t afford- or worse, refuse- to leave a tip, stay home or go through the drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A. You have no business being allowed out in public, much less going to a sit-down restaurant and expecting top-notch service.