Gratuity Guaranteed
One of my favorite serving experiences was with a guy who had arranged a big family get-together at our restaurant. I was pretty efficient at waiting tables so they assigned me the whole party, it was probably a couple of dozen people. I was handling it well but the host was tanked by the time he got there and he was complaining that he didn’t already have a drink in his hand.
Then he noticed that I was wearing a pair of sunglasses on top of my head (it was an indoor/outdoor restaurant and I was also serving the outside areas). For the rest of their meal, every time I came to the table, he announced how stupid I looked to everyone. The others at the table got so embarrassed that they started to apologize on his behalf.
Our policy was to add a 20% gratuity on parties that big, so when the check came, my tip was already on it. There’s a line for an extra tip, which is clearly marked as “additional.” This guy grabs the check, looks at me, turns so I can see what he writes, as he draws the biggest “0” and struck a line right through the middle of it so hard he pierced the paper. He turns to me with the most satisfied grin and I just thank him and tell him to have a pleasant night.
The guy is too dense to realize he had already tipped me over $100. My boss and I had a great laugh about it.
Story credit: Reddit / iRepth