I would like to comment on a subject that I have been dealing with for the past 2-1/2 years. I am a waiter at a local restaurant and I have dealt with all different kinds of people.
I'm not here to talk on how good my experiences have been or how my people skills have developed. I am writing because I have just encountered one of the rudest customers I've ever met ... and to make it worse, I know these people are Christians. This person, whom I know, goes to a local church and sang in the local Christmas concert in Winona Lake.
She and her family came into my restaurant and ate for two hours. No harm; no foul. The problem was in how she treated me. I was embarrassed even to know her, let alone serve her.
As most of us know, Saturday was the beginning of a bad snow storm. My manager locked the doors an hour and 15 minutes early because we had no customers. This woman came in five minutes before we closed. She knew we were closed. She insisted that I make more coffee, even though I told her that I had already cleaned it all up and it was prepped for the next day.
I'm not trying to sound like I'm lazy. And without being arrogant, I am one of the most on-task people I know, but there is a line that needs to be drawn somewhere.
At one time during their meal, I saw $25 sitting on the table. When they left, there was a tiny little tip. Being in the restaurant business, I know what it is like to get a small tip or even no tip, but for the quality of service that she received that evening and the amount of time she spent there, I would have been happier if she left me nothing. It's like she's saying, "Good job, kid, but I can't afford to pay for your services, like I do in other restaurants. I'll trick you into thinking that I'm going to tip well, and then yank from underneath you."
Like I said, I don't want to appear that I'm lazy or that I don't appreciate the tip. But this, coming from a woman who blatantly prays for her meal, right in front of me, makes me wonder what goes inside these people's minds. Do they expect me to wash their feet and lay myself down on the floor, so they can walk over me?
To all who read this: If you're a Christian and you want to share God's love, and you're in a restaurant, please tip your server well and treat them like a real person. Tell them that you're praying for them, that crazy people like the one I just described, will be reasonable.
God is right beside you watching every move. What are you going to do about it?
