I was reading an article online that brought this story into mind. Long ago when Jay and I were still in high school (I remember because we were in his little blue car) we went to Terre Haute and ate at Red Lobster for supper.
We had a good meal, didn't order anything unusual or extravagant, but a meal at Red Lobster for two teenagers can be pretty costly. I'm not sure what we were thinking, but neither of us had enough money. It wasn't intentional. It just happened.
We got the check and realized we were a few dollars short. Jay ran out to his car and raided the ashtray for loose change. I don't know about you, but as a teenager the loose change in your car is like a treasure chest, a few dollars seems like twenty. Thankfully, Jay had some left in that little treasure chest.
Jay scrounged up just enough money to pay for our meal. He was gone for what seemed like forever, as I sat there sweating it out. The problem was, we didn't have anything leftover for a tip. I tell you it made us both sick to our stomachs. Really. It bothered us all the way home that we had stiffed that lady a tip. What an awful feeling.
Now that I'm think about it, I'm kind of surprised that, as teenagers, we were even bothered by it, but we truly were. It bothered us enough we have never forgotten about it either. We now make sure we tip well if we have good service and our glasses are kept full. You never know when a couple of kids might've stiffed the waitstaff!
No comments:
Post a Comment