9 Nasty Truths About Your Favorite Foods
Famous Death Row Last Meals
Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives.
Serious diners may revile the open restaurant kitchen as noisy and passé, but the worst behaved among them should thank their lucky stars for the unfortified layout. After all, it's much harder for a server to spit in their food with everyone in the room watching.
But no amount of interior decorating can stop servers from taking revenge on their most miserable customers. Cads who pat their servers' behinds and cheapskates who order water, sugar and lemon instead of paying for lemonade should know their hijinks don't go unnoticed: Even the sweetest-seeming server will punish offenses at the table -- usually smiling all the while.
Spitting gets all the press, but few servers at sit-down restaurants like to mess with bodily fluids: Spitting's considered a rather déclassé and uninspired way of getting back at customers. Savvy restaurant workers aim for pocketbooks, not their guests' immune systems.
No matter what prices are listed on a menu, your server has a say in how much meal you get for your money. It's often the server's job to mete out side dishes, prepare salads and ladle soup -- and nasty customers will get shorted every time. And while free refills may be the stated policy at many franchised restaurants, wronged servers at less-generous eateries will happily charge their nightmare customers for every soda they slurp.
I once worked at a fine-dining restaurant that offered a house-brand wine -- a sappy fruit bomb that invariably distracted customers from the better wines on the list. My fellow servers discovered the most satisfying way to deal with boorish guests who ordered a $9 glass of the stuff was to serve them instead an ad hoc soda-machine concoction of Diet Coke and Mello Yello and then nod politely when they praised its nose.
I'm confident server revenge is far more widespread than many customers suspect, and that there are methods I still haven't encountered.
Tell us about how you've gotten even with a customer -- or caught a server trying to get back at you.
SLIDESHOW: Tattoos That Go Way Beyond Your Average Tramp Stamp
Rodents Run Amok at Upstate New York Walmart
PHOTOS: Most And Least Christian States In America
America's 10 Highest-Paid CEOs of 2011 (and How They Earned It)
What Happened When Alex Kenjeev Paid His Student Loan in Cash
VIDEO, PHOTOS: Man Who Chewed Off Victim's Face ID'd
What's a Realistic Retirement Age?
Carrie Underwood's Grunge Rock Past: 'I Was All About Pearl Jam'
America's 10 Best National Parks
I'm A Successful Entrepreneur But Might Get Deported
Farmers Hit the Jackpot in Kansas Oil Boom
Yale Student Killed In Crash Days After Graduating
Mary J. Blige, Charity Lawsuit: Singer's Foundation Sued for Failing to Repay $250K Loan
Safeway Worker Stops Man From Beating Pregnant Woman, Gets Suspended
LOOK: Inside Honduras' Deadly Prisons
Editorial: Despite shaky 48 fps Hobbit preview, high frame rates will take off
PHOTOS: Nicole Scherzinger Almost Reveals Too Much
Will You Be My Facebook Friend? No.
'Cannibal' Attack: Naked Man Shot Dead In Miami 'As He Chewed Victim's Face' (VIDEO, PICTURES)
Eight-Year-Old Upset After Teacher Gave Her The Biggest 'Catastrophe' Award
NSFW PHOTOS: A Little Too Much Of A Rear View
VIDEO: 'The Guy Was Tearing Him To Pieces With His Mouth'
Boy Locked In Filthy Coal Bunker Every Night For A Year
Blood Found In Missing Girl's Bedroom
FREE FALLING
Another Deadly Northern Italian Earthquake
MSNBC Host Says He's 'Uncomfortable' Calling Soldiers Killed In Action 'Heroes'
PHOTOS: Americans Honor Troops On Memorial Day Weekend
Police Arrest Parents Of Six Children Killed In Derby House Fire
60 Recipes For Pie Lovers
Travel + Leisure: PHOTOS: America's Worst-Dressed People
NYPD May Search Landfill For Etan Patz's Body
10-20-2009 @5:28PM ToolandAPCrocks said... http://notalwaysright.com/category/top/page/1 Really now? XD
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:30PM Pat said... When I am at a restaurant, I try to be polite and friendly to the wait person. Often, this gets me no where. The squeaky wheel--and complaining customer--gets the good service.
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:40PM Paul said... So it's okay to cheat your customers...hmmmm. When they ask for lemon, water, and sugar, they are NOT cheating you. I've been known as a heavy tipper at restaurants. Maybe I'll seriously cut back on what I leave under the corner of the plate from now on.
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:41PM SKatie said... As someone who had done it ALL in food service - from front to back of the house - I have found the KITCHEN staff is most likely to 'alter' your meal. When a customer sends a dish back to the chef he/she is most likely to "add a little something" rather than a server. this is not to say that servers/bartenders do not do this. TREAT YOUR WAITSTAFF WITH RESPECT!!! it is THE ONLY job that pays less than minimum wage (typically $3-$4 p/hr.) We rely on the tips to pay our bills.
Reply
10-20-2009 @6:03PM Rachel said... BOTTOM LINE: Be nice to people who handle your food! Its that simple! You get what you give
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:41PM t-mom said... I was a manager/server for over 20 years. I would never mess with anyones food or allow it to be done. Some people are just complainers and some are bad tippers. I have dealt with both. It is part of the job and no job is perfect. When you take "revenge" on a diner, you are just giving servers a bad name. Go to the cooler and yell instead.
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:43PM Paul said... My wife and I received gift certificates for Ruth Chris.Unfortunitely the waiter saw our coupons and assumed we would be bad tippers.He made the evening a very unpleasant experience with sarcastic remarks and rude service and we still gave him a $40 tip as the meal was free.I regret giving that tip but I am not a mean person.Needless to say Ruth Chris's is never recommended by us to anyone.I actually regret not letting the manager know.This waiter was a total snob.
Reply
10-22-2009 @9:21AM Realistic Mom said... Well, I once knew of a server who jerked off in the alfredo
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:43PM Bill said... I generally tip a flat $1.00 at lunch (which is more than 20%) and about 20% before tax rounded to the nearest dollar at dinner, assuming service is OK--doesn't have to be exceptional, but I do expect occassinal check backs and courtesy. My issue with articles like this is that tips originated as a reward for service, not as an entitlement. I've never stiffed anyone for good service, and I don't punish a server for food quality. But servers don't DESERVE tips until they earn them.
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:43PM angela said... i was a server for many years and you work for that money. they tell you they pay you so low because you are the owner of your own business,true,but not!don't get me wrong,its hard work,but overall it can be good. but for those who don't know,we dont control the seating,the airconditioning,the people beside you,the cook or the manager. if you want to substitute an item an the manager says no not our fault,or the cook doesnt cook your food right not our fault,we try to fix things,but if we have godlike attitudes we cant,so what do people do they take it out on the servers! im not saying all servers are great,but ive also had customers sit down and go give me what i want and youll get a great tip, not!ive had people run me ragged because they felt for my tip they had to run me to death,seriosly theres right and wrong on both sides just think about it next time your out.
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:54PM betina1501 said... The customer is not always right. In my 10 plus years of serving/bartending I have been cussed at (the f word) grabbed on the arm (drunk guest) sexually harassed ("what size are those...." and much worse....) and was once told I was ugly (by teenagers that wanted a "hot waitress"). That being said--I have also met some incredible people, shared in many families' special occasions, and enjoy meeting new people every day. I take pride in my job and try to improve my skills every day. I have NEVER contaminated anyone's food-regardless of their behavior because it is NOT RIGHT (we're talking moral code here). I approach each table with the hope that I can provide them with excellent service, tailored to meet their needs. It comes down to respect. Treat people with respect. And please use please and thank you--you cannot imagine how good it feels to hear AND say.....I will give you the best service I can no matter how you treat me and let Karma take care of the rest.
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:47PM Casey said... I'm a server, and I must say that 9 times out of 10, they deserve the little things. they may be little, replacing wine with coke, but its all for a good laugh. obviously, none of you can take a joke. and if its all about the money part, if you're so strapped for cash, why dont you try spending it on something else?
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:55PM Diana said... Well, if miserable service is the price I pay for not tipping like a rich man, I suppose I'll just eat at home. Evidently, the economy doesn't need my money.
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:49PM RWM said... Again with the lemonade...
Nothing wrong with ordering water with some lemon on the side, but to use it to make yourself some lemonade for free instead of adding the $2 to your bill is cheating the restaurant out of a sale, however small, and it's cheating the server out of their 15% of that. Tiny, right? But it adds up.
People need to get some class and knock it off with this homemade lemonade nonsense. I think I used to do that when I was 6....
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:52PM ROLLANDO said... I once caught a server waiting on the table next to me getting her customer a glass of iced water. Nothing wrong with that except that she used the ice from tables already cleared of previous customers. She always hated this customer and always gets stuck with him. The customer has poor hygiene and extreme tartered teeth. She cringes whenever he smiles at her and he always requests she be her server. Anyway, I saw what she did ad told the guy about it. He thanked me and told the manager. The manager fired the server. And the guy got a free meal.
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:54PM glenn said... Read it again. She gave the family fresh ones, then went back and reheated his "floor models".
Reply
10-20-2009 @5:58PM t-mom said... Doesn't everyone try to save money when they can? Who doesn't go to the "sale" items at a department store or check the grocers for "specials"? Why should be eating out be different? They should be able to order a less expensive glass of wine or lemon with their water. I am not saying they shouldn't tip decent, but with comments like these, why would people want to?
Reply
10-20-2009 @6:04PM Al said... my old teacher used to deliver pizza and whenever he got a rude customer they would put anchovies in the cheese pizza. They would put a picture of a fish on the inside of the box that said find me! Everyone would eat their pizza really slowly and in tiny bites, not enjoying it. Half the time, they wouldn't even put the anchovies in, just put the pic on the box. Never piss off the pizza guy.
Reply
10-21-2009 @7:11PM teltech543 said... I am lucky if I eat out 4 times a year. Which lowers my probability that they will do anything to my food. Plus I never visit the same restaurant twice in one year.
Reply
10-20-2009 @6:10PM dbird said... i work in food servcie now , and have , for thrity five years . when i sense i am being talked down to, and sense that my customers are treating me with less what i would say is common respect , i just over charge them . simple .
or shake their sodas for take out ,.. . i know , very immature but hey like i said , 35 years of abuse , and thats what it comes to .
let me say , i have had customers who are as close as family , and a few rotten apples do pop up , but all in all, i love this work ..
Reply