Retail Employee Stories Part 7: "I'm Not Supposed To Be Here Today!"

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I haven't posted to this thread for a long time, but it was very therapeutic a while ago, so I'll give it a try again.

Gal wants to look at some Earrings, and, though it is common logic, nobody is allowed to try the earrings on before they buy them due to sanitary reasons. I've had people argue with me about it before, so every time I bring out a pair now, I say specifically "You cannot try them on" very slowly.Anyway, I bring them out and this occurs:
Me: Here are the earrings, and just to make sure you know, you cannot put them in your ear.
Her: What?
Me: You cannot put the earrings in your ear, you can hold them up, no big deal, but they can't go in your ear.
Her: Why Not?
Me: Well, it's sanitary reasons, we just can't let you put it in your ears, no one is, it makes it safer for the person that does buy them and get these pair.
Her: But ***** in Canada lets me try it on, why won't you let me?
Me: Because it's possible to clean it, but the only way to be 100% sure nothing gets transferred is to not even have the possibility of something being on there.
Her: Is it because of the color of my skin? (she's east indian, not that it matters to me)
Me: No, it's sanitary reasons, doesn't matter who wants to try it on, they can't
Her: I think it's because of the color of my skin, I want to talk to a manager
Me: You're more than welcome to, they are right over there, they'll tell you the same thing I just said.


Guy is standing in front of an 80 inch tv, and when I say in front, I mean around 4 feet away.
Guy: Do you have high definition on this?
Me: Yeah, but it's only 720p, so on an 80 inch screen the pixels are pretty big.
Guy: yeah, well it looks like crap
Me: It is an 80 inch screen, you need to be standing much further away for this size tv
Guy takes a step back, now only 5 feet back: Still looks like crap


ON the phone
Me:(Store) (Location) electronics
Guy: Yeah, I was wondering if you have any ps3 controllers?
Me: Unfortunately, no, we're going to stop carrying video games all together
Guy: Well, do you know if your canadian stores will be doing the same?
Me: I don't know, they're in a different country.
Guy: Oh yeah, well we have beer!
Me:... alright, I still don't know though, have a good day *click*
 
[quote name='confoosious']It doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense. The fact is that's how our service industry is structured. By not tipping, you're not correcting what you think is a bad national policy, all you're doing is screwing the service staff who factor in those tips to make a living.

What do you think is gonna happen? Your lack of tip is gonna cause the owner to say "hmmm you know what? That guy didn't leave a tip. I should take this as a sign that our policies in this industry are wrong. I'll have to correct that right away!" Of course not, the waiter hates you for not tipping despite good service and it just makes you look like a douche.

It's not like waiters do it to get rich. The least you could do is throw them 10% so they can make their usual living (which isn't great to begin with).

Being frugal is one thing. Screwing someone else trying to make a living is another. Don't be ridiculous.

(If you have a gripe because of very poor service, that's another issue. I'm talking about not tipping because you're a cheap ass.)[/QUOTE]
The "if you can't afford it" argument goes both ways. If someone can't make a living with a job where they bring home a paycheck and daily bonuses, then they need to find a better job. The nursing field is very much in need of workers, it's incredibly easy to get into, and it pays quite well.

I'm not screwing anybody over (they still get their full paycheck for scribbling down a few words and carrying a tray) and I'm not hoping that the owner has some kind of epiphany and starts paying everyone more money than necessary. I'm also not trying to make a statement. I simply don't think that I should blindly do something that I find to be idiotic just because "that's what people do" (hmm, sounds like religion). If I want to tip, I'll tip. If I don't want to, then that's my fucking business. Some "douche" on the internet isn't going to change that.

Alas, as someone mentioned above, we really just need to get back to the stories. We have all completely derailed the topic with this pointless argument that isn't going anywhere.



[quote name='sonderiaom']Guy is standing in front of an 80 inch tv, and when I say in front, I mean around 4 feet away.
Guy: Do you have high definition on this?
Me: Yeah, but it's only 720p, so on an 80 inch screen the pixels are pretty big.
Guy: yeah, well it looks like crap
Me: It is an 80 inch screen, you need to be standing much further away for this size tv
Guy takes a step back, now only 5 feet back: Still looks like crap[/QUOTE]
Ha ha, I like that one. I want to be that guy's friend.

Do you work at Sears by any chance?
 
I'm not gonna read this entire discussion. I'm just gonna leave my two cents.

If a waiter is a nice and does a good job taking care of you, fuckin' tip them! If they're a douche and neglectful, don't. That's all it comes down to for me. The chef may cook your meal, but the waiter makes sure its right, and you're well taken care of. The chef's are payed better anyway.
 
[quote name='Lyricsborn']If servers get tipped then shouldn't we also tip cops, firefighters, and paramedics? They save lives.[/QUOTE]

1) I hope you're kididng
2) of course not. because their jobs and salaries don't include tips in the equation.

I consider people who don't tip waiters and waitresses pathetic. I can't believe people are so cheap that they won't tip.

I haven't been in the service industry since high school but I know that they work hard for their money. If you refuse to tip, then you are a douche of the highest order. Tipping is a tax on enjoying a meal at a restaurant, provided the waiter didn't make it not enjoyable. if you don't want to pay the tax, then stay home. In our society, this is non-negotiable.
 
[quote name='confoosious']1) I hope you're kididng
2) of course not. because their jobs and salaries don't include tips in the equation.

I consider people who don't tip waiters and waitresses pathetic. I can't believe people are so cheap that they won't tip.

I haven't been in the service industry since high school but I know that they work hard for their money. If you refuse to tip, then you are a douche of the highest order. Tipping is a tax on enjoying a meal at a restaurant, provided the waiter didn't make it not enjoyable. if you don't want to pay the tax, then stay home. In our society, this is non-negotiable.[/QUOTE]


I would never re eat at a place that you were suppose to tip and didn't.

If I worked at a job and you guys didn't tip me who knows how much care would go into your food. When I used to work at mcdonalds i seen an old lady who worked there spit into someones burger who worked for corporate.

Granted Mcdonals doesn't tip. Just an example of what happens when you piss the people off that handle you're food. Id rather piss off the IRS and get audited as that will fix itself.

I think that is some saying from a movie don't fuck with the people who fuck with your food lol.
 
For the record I do tip, but I dont see the need to pay someone for writing down an order, then putting that food on a tray and handing me it.
 
[quote name='needler420']
I think that is some saying from a movie don't fuck with the people who fuck with your food lol.[/QUOTE]

It's from Waiting.

[quote name='Lyricsborn']For the record I do tip, but I dont see the need to pay someone for writing down an order, then putting that food on a tray and handing me it.[/QUOTE]

Here's the deal. Tipping used to be for exceptional service. But then it evolved into something where it became commonplace to tip. The restaurant owners knew waiters got money from tipping so they could get away with paying them less and less knowing that a good waiter would make more money from tipping than not. So basically, waiters take jobs and factor in a certain percentage into their earnings.

They know that a dead tuesday night yields $x and a busy friday night means $y. The social norm in this country is to tip 10-20%. The expectation is that if a waiter gives you good service (or at least not crappy service), you pay an additional 10-20% of the bill.

When you do not do this, it fucks with the waiter's paycheck (and the hostess, and the busboy, and maybe the cook and the dishwasher) and this is not fair. They work that job knowing they will get about 10-15% on top of the bill. Normal people eat at restaurants expecting to pay 10-15% on top of the bill. Everyone knows the dance and everyone is happy.

Again, if someone doesn't want to pay the waiter tax, then stay home.

In other countries, you do not tip. But guess what? 10-15% is factored into the menu price because the waiter has to be paid somehow. Nobody is gonna work a crappy job for nothing. To me, it's the cost of dining out. Whether it's baked into the price or you put an additional 15% after the total, it doesn't really matter. You're supposed to pay that cost. If you don't pay it (and there was nothing wrong with the service), you deserve everything you get the next time you eat there.

I'm sure ZombieToast has eaten his share of fromunda that he doesn't know about.
 
[quote name='Lyricsborn']The problem with that is that they shouldn't factor in the tips until its in their hands.[/QUOTE]

You work right? you do your job and if you do your job well, you get a check every 2 weeks or so. Do you factor those wages into your income? If you did a good job, would you expect them to go "nah, we don't feel like paying you as much this week. You shouldn't have factored in that money into your living."

It's the same thing. Waiters aren't factoring in like 30% tip. They figure "if I do my job well, then I will get this much money based on 10% of the bill. If I get lucky, I could make more." When you don't even tip 10% and the waiter has done his job well, then you're just screwing him for no good reason. Again, the price of eating at a restaurant is the menu price + 10% + tax. If someone can't deal with that, then don't eat there.

It'd be kinda nice if we went to a society with baked in tips prices. Then those prices would filter out the cheapasses.
 
[quote name='confoosious']1) I hope you're kididng
2) of course not. because their jobs and salaries don't include tips in the equation.

I consider people who don't tip waiters and waitresses pathetic. I can't believe people are so cheap that they won't tip.

I haven't been in the service industry since high school but I know that they work hard for their money. If you refuse to tip, then you are a douche of the highest order. Tipping is a tax on enjoying a meal at a restaurant, provided the waiter didn't make it not enjoyable. if you don't want to pay the tax, then stay home. In our society, this is non-negotiable.[/QUOTE]
Most restaurants I go to charge a tax, so based on your logic here, I don't have to leave a tip because I've already paid the tax. That's good to know.


[quote name='confoosious']When you do not do this, it fucks with the waiter's paycheck[/QUOTE]
No, it doesn't change the paycheck in any way. It only affects how much bonus money they take home; their wages are completely unaffected. You act like they are somehow going poor if they don't receive tips, but they are actually very fortunate because idiots are throwing extra money at them based on some arbitrary percentage (in this town, they're extremely fortunate to even have a job at all). We are a three-person household with a single part-time income that is barely above minimum wage (with no tips whatsoever), so the average server probably brings in about as much (if not more) money than we do as a family. You can keep playing your little violin if you want, but that's not bad at all.


[quote name='confoosious']I'm sure ZombieToast has eaten his share of fromunda that he doesn't know about.[/QUOTE]
Then that is a VERY good reason to not tip. Why should I leave tips if I can't be guaranteed that some pathetic server isn't messing with my food? Considering that you typically pay AFTER you eat, they have no idea if I'm going to tip or not, so it has to be assumed that they are messing with food on a fairly regular basis. I'll have to keep this in mind next time I eat out.
 
[quote name='ZombieToast']Most restaurants I go to charge a tax, so based on your logic here, I don't have to leave a tip because I've already paid the tax. That's good to know.



No, it doesn't change the paycheck in any way. It only affects how much bonus money they take home; their wages are completely unaffected. You act like they are somehow going poor if they don't receive tips, but they are actually very fortunate because idiots are throwing extra money at them based on some arbitrary percentage (in this town, they're extremely fortunate to even have a job at all). We are a three-person household with a single part-time income that is barely above minimum wage (with no tips whatsoever), so the average server probably brings in about as much (if not more) money than we do as a family. You can keep playing your little violin if you want, but that's not bad at all.
[/QUOTE]

1) you obviously don't understand the difference between a government levied sales tax and a theoretical "waiter tax" that I was talking about.

2) You shouldn't dine out then. But just because you're poor doesn't mean you stiff a waiter out of a tip. If you can't afford to eat anywhere else but mcdonalds, then don't.
 
We typically pay a $2 tip regardless of the size of the check and less if the service/food is bad. I don't believe in following those 'you MUST tip X%' bullshit 'guidelines'. If waiters/waitresses want to make more and/or a living wage, then they need to petition their state reps and/or bitch at their employers for more money.
 
Oh, SHUT UP ALREADY.

We get it, we all know both of your personal preferences on tipping. If you want to keep arguing about it, do it in PM's. Stop subjecting the rest of us to the constant repeating of your viewpoints. Any more of it and it will be time to get a mod involved.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']We typically pay a $2 tip regardless of the size of the check and less if the service/food is bad. I don't believe in following those 'you MUST tip X%' bullshit 'guidelines'. If waiters/waitresses want to make more and/or a living wage, then they need to petition their state reps and/or bitch at their employers for more money.[/QUOTE]
lol dude are you serious? 2 bucks? you are trolling right?
 
[quote name='neocisco']Oh, SHUT UP ALREADY.

We get it, we all know both of your personal preferences on tipping. If you want to keep arguing about it, do it in PM's. Stop subjecting the rest of us to the constant repeating of your viewpoints. Any more of it and it will be time to get a mod involved.[/QUOTE]

wow, who died and made you jr mod?

"Any more and I'll tell your father when he comes home. You better watch out!"

I mean, it's certainly a heated discussion but it's not like it's gotten completely out of hand. You really are gonna squeal to the mods about a tipping discussion? Really?

I mean, I know they don't like OT discussions in the deal forum but I thought the rest of the forums were for... discussions. Silly me.

You made me lol.
 
You're not saying anything new, you're just repeating yourself ad nauseam. That's the problem, you're just being redundant at this point. The two of you aren't going to change each other's opinions so just let it go.
 
[quote name='neocisco']You're not saying anything new, you're just repeating yourself ad nauseam. That's the problem, you're just being redundant at this point. The two of you aren't going to change each other's opinions so just let it go.[/QUOTE]

Yes sir. Right away sir.
 
I base the tip I give on how fast a server can bring me my drinks!!! If they do well, the tip is good, if it's poor the tip isn't that great. What ZombieToast said was pretty spot on though, you can never tell if anybody ever does mess with your food, whether you did something or not.

Here is something a lot of people probably don't know though, the tip you give at most places isn't pocketed by the server. They need to tip out bus boys, bar tenders hostesses and so on. I think that is pretty shitty which in turn can it make the service pretty bad just based on there mood.
 
[quote name='neocisco']Ah, the typical retort of a child.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I didn't realize you were in charge of this thread. Once you set me straight, I knew had wronged.
 
I have a waiter/server buddy. For his birthday I took him out and bought him a drink.I was going to leave a decent tip but when my friend saw how much I was leaving he says "You can't leave him that...etc". He wanted me to leave more. Ended up leaving more than 100% tip. I didn't argue it was his b-day. I had to listen to him gripe about how bad waiters have it, but every once in a while he tells me about the nights he pulls $250.
 
[quote name='TiKi2']I have a waiter/server buddy. For his birthday I took him out and bought him a drink.I was going to leave a decent tip but when my friend saw how much I was leaving he says "You can't leave him that...etc". He wanted me to leave more. Ended up leaving more than 100% tip. I didn't argue it was his b-day. I had to listen to him gripe about how bad waiters have it, but every once in a while he tells me about the nights he pulls $250.[/QUOTE]

I don't think servers have a whole lot of room to talk about terrible tips in this economy. They are lucky to have jobs to be honest, and I think complaining about a tip makes you sound greedy.

They don't make a lot of money, that is for sure, but having a job is better then having none, no matter how low paying. When a server goes to complain he should think about how many people would kill to have his job and pay, not even thinking about extra tips.
 
[quote name='confoosious']2) You shouldn't dine out then. But just because you're poor doesn't mean you stiff a waiter out of a tip. If you can't afford to eat anywhere else but mcdonalds, then don't.[/QUOTE]
I'm going to go with no. You don't get to tell me what to do or how to act. How people choose to live their lives thankfully is not based on your opinions. If I want to eat out, then I will. Whether or not I decide to tip is between the server and myself. By the way, having a low income isn't the same as being poor. Unlike most people, we know how to handle our finances and we don't live beyond our means, so we've got a nice chunk of change in our savings and will likely be buying a new car and knocking about 5 years off of our mortgage this year. We know people bringing in $3000-$4000 each month (far, far more than us) and yet they're the ones having to borrow from us. It may be best to not make assumptions about folks.


[quote name='neocisco']Oh, SHUT UP ALREADY.

We get it, we all know both of your personal preferences on tipping. If you want to keep arguing about it, do it in PM's. Stop subjecting the rest of us to the constant repeating of your viewpoints. Any more of it and it will be time to get a mod involved.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='neocisco']You're not saying anything new, you're just repeating yourself ad nauseam. That's the problem, you're just being redundant at this point. The two of you aren't going to change each other's opinions so just let it go.[/QUOTE]
Although some of this also aimed at me, I agree. Nobody's opinion is going to change and neither of our opinions really matter anyway (except to ourselves). This also isn't even the place to continue this pointless debate.


[quote name='TiKi2']I have a waiter/server buddy. For his birthday I took him out and bought him a drink.I was going to leave a decent tip but when my friend saw how much I was leaving he says "You can't leave him that...etc". He wanted me to leave more. Ended up leaving more than 100% tip. I didn't argue it was his b-day. I had to listen to him gripe about how bad waiters have it, but every once in a while he tells me about the nights he pulls $250.[/QUOTE]
Servers often bring home a ridiculous amount of cash each night because of the perception that they are underpaid and worked like dogs. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's common for my sister to bring home over $200 in tips. And she happens to love what she does.
 
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[quote name='ZombieToast']Although some of this also aimed at me, I agree. Nobody's opinion is going to change and neither of our opinions really matter anyway (except to ourselves). This also isn't even the place to continue this pointless debate.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for being the sensible one, I'm sure I'm not the only one that appreciates it. :)
 
[quote name='Thekrakrabbit']I don't think servers have a whole lot of room to talk about terrible tips in this economy. They are lucky to have jobs to be honest, and I think complaining about a tip makes you sound greedy.

They don't make a lot of money, that is for sure, but having a job is better then having none, no matter how low paying. When a server goes to complain he should think about how many people would kill to have his job and pay, not even thinking about extra tips.[/QUOTE]

You realize in most states, without tips, that's less than $3 an hour?
 
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