There's nothing quite like the feeling one gets upon discovering a customer has left a really shitty tip. It's the perfect crime, a deeply personal affront for which there is rarely any recourse or rebuttal. Sometimes you totally see it coming; other times it comes as such a shock that you end up inventing all sorts of excuses to explain it away. (A mathematical error perhaps. Could happen to anyone!)
But all too often there is a message specifically encoded in the amount left on the table. I'm not talking about the words "F-U-C-K-Y-O-U" spelled out in pennies -- though I have seen that happen. To someone else. It's usually way more subtle, though; tips are about power, they are expressions of judgment or non-judgment. We consider the statement we're making as we calculate the amount, and it often has very little to do with the service that was provided. So when I get a really bad tip, I always have to wonder: was this about me? Or about them?
(I prefer to think it's always about them.)
Anyhow, above is a sketch of an actual tip that I've actually received. Yes, the person took the time to write out that they were leaving a cash tip. No, there aren't any dollar bills hidden just out of frame. In moments like these, I try to temper my discouragement with the knowledge that this experience is literally built into my job. If I was fundamentally opposed to get royally stiffed now and then, I wouldn't show up at all. Right?
Anyhow, this card illustrates one of those occasions when the drawbacks of a situation are more apparent than the benefits. Are you going to let it get to you, and wind up spreading the bad vibe to your other tables? I'd like to think that no reader of mine would not so easily succumb to this kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Opportunity is all around you, don't let a few losses (no matter how profoundly irritating) wind up determining your next few steps.
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