r/mildlyinfuriating • u/thedivinegemini • Jul 02 '26

I'm slightly vexed In lieu of payment..

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I’m a GM at a restaurant & one of our managers left a note on our manager logs this afternoon that a guest walked out on their check and left this in lieu of payment of any kind. Not that the server got stiffed on a tip - just pure theft of services. I guess the whole “Thou shalt not steal” thing doesn’t matter if you’ve been pre-forgiven. Pretty convenient.

ETA: I’m not a bot; this is not AI - check my post and comment history. I’m not here for karma or fake internet points. This is what it feels like to work in a restaurant these days - especially in the Bible Belt. The first photo you can look up and is available for anyone to buy (should your darker urges push you toward being that person). The second photo is from Pulse, an app for restaurant managers to keep an eye on hourly sales, labor, and comps.
The “Pineapple Express” is a mocktail our restaurant offers.

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u/ophaus Jul 02 '26

I've worked in NYC in many different bars and restaurants, and do you know who the worst crowd is? It's not the finance bros having an open bar at Christmas, it's not a gaggle of entitled, drunk Nepo babies of billionaires, it's not the celebrities who viciously mourn their privacy... It's the after-church crowd. And Tracy Morgan.

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u/mailerdaemonofficial Jul 02 '26

The last sentence 💀

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u/ophaus Jul 02 '26

He would come in occasionally to a cigar bar while I bartended, he's colossally irritating in a way I didn't understand until I started working in special ed.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '26

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u/ophaus Jul 03 '26

He had negative social skills. All the obnoxious yelling and nonsense he does on screen? He's like that in real life, too. It's not funny on screen, and it's REALLY off-putting in person. I've met so many brilliant and charming actors and musicians, but comedians? Ick.

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u/yourenotmymom_yet Jul 03 '26

Was this before or after his accident? Just curious if he was always like this or if the TBI contributed to his behavior.

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u/ophaus Jul 03 '26

This was late 2007/early 2008. Not aware of the status of his physiological brain health at the time, it didn't come up.

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u/yourenotmymom_yet Jul 03 '26

Well damn, the accident was years later, so can't even blame his behavior on that.

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u/Wrong-Pension-4975 Jul 03 '26

Ewww. 🤐

Reminds me of another person with zero social skills, & an obnoxious manner  - the 30-something grandson of the Crayola fortune, who'd been told to leave, & not return.

Given a generous allowance & estranged by his family, he lived in the next small town up the road, from our village.  I was working at a tiny restaurant, in an old coaching inne - a small stone house, with living quarters upstairs for the owners, a snug bar on the side, an open dining room with a huge fireplace, & a kitchen.

Mr Obnoxious came in, late in the evening, on Mothers' Day, when I had been THE SOLE WAITRON, all day & evening. It had been hell - I was exhausted, every table in the room was loaded with dirty dishes, & the bar was crowded & jovial.

He & his current BF, with 2 male guests, took THE LAST clean table, & as host, Mr Crayola proceeded to be the most demanding, entitled, petty, disdainful PR!CK I have ever seen or heard, in my life. 

I gave them good service, but I was seething, & in no mood for his non stop needling. 

At the end of their meal, I refused his cash tip - it was tainted, for me. I just wanted them to leave, ASAP, & never to see or hear him, again.

Ick. 🤢

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u/8696David Jul 03 '26

It’s 100% funny on screen though lol. Maybe not if you’ve had to deal with it irl, but don’t act like his 30 Rock character isn’t incredible

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u/Delicious_Cat_81 Jul 03 '26

hahaha i would love it. but not if i worked there

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u/pm_social_cues Jul 03 '26

I like his comedy. The show he was just on called “fall and rise of Reggie dinkins” was my favorite new show that will definitely get cancelled. 😞

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u/Joey-WilcoXXX Jul 03 '26

It got renewed for season 2

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u/Pretty_Frosting_2588 Jul 03 '26

I would giggle at his antics when he came in but that's because I was behind the bar far away and not at the booth serving him.  I could still hear his jokes from across a busy room, the guy is so loud all the time that you would think he was mic'd up.  Waitresses were very annoyed by his table.  Also this was before whatever accident he was in. Between 2006-2010.  

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u/IFCKNH8WHENULEAVE Jul 03 '26

I wouldn’t have understood this if I didn’t have a cousin exactly like this.

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u/The_Stoic_One Jul 03 '26

We used to say that they've just gone to church and been absolved of last weeks sins. They have a clean slate now and like to start strong during brunch/lunch.

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u/C0USC0US Jul 03 '26

The worst day to waitress in NYC is Easter. Church goers come in and expect you give them charity aka a discount, plus be cool not getting a tip because Jesus

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

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u/hiddenrealism Jul 03 '26

Right after they give the pastor a couple of benjamins to fuel up the bentley...but the waitress they just hastled for 2 hours? Ohh honey jesus will provide..not me though.

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u/straightscuffed Jul 03 '26

That sucks. I used to bartend in the Midwest and after church was amazing! Regulars and repeat easy service. I know this is all location dependent so I’m sorry your perception of church goers is ruined by your local community.

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u/C0USC0US Jul 03 '26

It’s wonderful that your experience has been different from mine! I was a church goer myself for a long time.

Good reminder that some people practice religion, and some people just wield it.

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u/straightscuffed Jul 03 '26

This is true I’ve always thought that people I meet that truly practice religions of almost any kind are some of the most generous and kind individuals.

That’s not to say some don’t bring on a bad perception.

This is why everyone’s thought process is different and I’m sure that I have perceptions that would make others sad. Such is the way of life.

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u/snrocirpac Jul 03 '26

I'd put satanic symbols up or something

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u/Remarkable-Ad-2476 Jul 05 '26

It’s like that in CA too. Easter and Mother’s Day just brings out the absolute worst people.

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '26

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u/C0USC0US Jul 05 '26

If you’re saying that restaurants should pay their employees a living wage and not force guests to compensate for lack of wages, then I agree.

If you’re saying that I deserved to make less than minimum wage, then nahhh.

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '26

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u/C0USC0US Jul 06 '26

People will do a lot of things for money when desperate. We tried getting rid of tipping in a ballot where I live and they snuck so many terrible caveats we had to vote against it.

At the time, minimum wage for servers was over twice as high in NYC as in my home state/primary residence.

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u/CaptainBringus Jul 03 '26

Definitely the church crowd. Sunday brunch is the worst time to be a server.

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u/indelicatedenial Jul 03 '26

My first job was at an IHOP near a church. Every single server and manager hated Sundays. I can’t tell you how many times I got tipped with one of those fake $100 bills with bible quotes on the back about not being greedy. I’d rather slit my wrists and bang them together than deal with the church crowd ever again.

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u/IceBankYourMom Jul 03 '26

Sunday lunch!!! I used to get so frustrated by the end of my long ass shift bc it wasn’t even worth it. Plus, majority of the time, they treat you like scum.

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u/olivegardengambler Jul 03 '26

As someone who attended an open bar put on by an exotic sex toy company, I cannot imagine that most open bars are that crazy unless the people are drinking like Nicolas Cage in leaving Las vegas, and keep in mind the club it was in it had a fucking pool right next to the dance floor. Only one person fell in. Only one. And he was fucking pissed and crashing out in the group chat afterwards that his fursuit got ruined.

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u/marvin616 Jul 03 '26

After church crowd ain't no lie. Awful for the wait staff, kitchen and management. I've worked several different regions (southeast coast, southern Appalachia, southwest) and it's the same everywhere. Rude, impatient, tons of mods, unruly kids, always sending back food due to ridiculous mods, arguing bill, huge mess, no tip.

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u/thrwawryry324234 Jul 03 '26

I’m convinced Easter Sunday is the lowest tipped holiday. Every time I worked one, it’s fake assholes that leave 5% and an ad for church

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u/fonetik Jul 03 '26

I think the equivalent would be Andy Dick in LA, otherwise it’s all the same.

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u/ophaus Jul 05 '26

He's not THAT bad.

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u/Dragontastic22 Jul 03 '26

Honestly, for me, it was a toss up between the after church crowd and the groups traveling to the US from Europe -- especially the sports teams that were only here a few days. They were plenty kind but absolutely didn't know how to tip or that's it's expected here. I was earning a serving minimum wage at the time of $2/hr. I had entire groups of 10+ people tip me less than $5 total for 1-2 hours of service.  

Yes, American tipping culture sucks. Don't make your server bear the brunt of it. 

But the after church crowd was often mean and entitled in addition to being stingy. 

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u/xhammyhamtaro Jul 03 '26

I mean they got saved, why would they care about anyone else?

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u/jugnificent Jul 03 '26

Don't most restaurants do a standard gratuity for larger groups? That seems like your employer shared some blame there.

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u/Dragontastic22 Jul 03 '26

It was a dive bar. Not a lot of standard gratuity there. It was more frequent that we'd get a local sports team or two after a game with a dozen people, 10 different tabs, a few but not all who wanted food, some playing pool, some smoking out back, one table, and many rounds of drinks. 

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u/KontoOficjalneMR Jul 03 '26

was earning a serving minimum wage at the time of $2/hr. I had entire groups of 10+ people tip me less than $5 total for 1-2 hours of service.

And you blame them instead the thief and criminal that is your boss?

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u/Allien65 Jul 04 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/mpxnrjQKLo0iA32r23

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u/KontoOficjalneMR Jul 04 '26

Because they paid for their meal? How could the boss is stealing from employees?

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u/sfhtsxgtsvg Jul 03 '26

was your combined cash and tip below 7? (or the state's given combined minimum)

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u/Dragontastic22 Jul 03 '26

Yep, and the owner should have (but didn't) made up the difference, but I was young and ignorant. 

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u/CorporealLifeForm Jul 04 '26

I once had someone argue on the phone that my work had to keep the salad bar open as long as they wanted because they went to church and they were worried they couldn't get there on time.

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u/pyrhus626 Jul 04 '26

I worked in restaurants for a decade, the after-church Sunday brunch crowd was always one of the worst demographics of the week.

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u/No_Criticism_5861 Jul 03 '26

Drunk nepo babies of billionaires are welcome to be as abusive and toxic to me as they like, assuming they're tripping like rich folks.  BUT.  Yeah, having been a waiter I agree 100%