Waiter upset after discovering $20 tip was actually a Bible pamphlet

[zaffiroborant]

I worked as a waitress for exactly 2 weeks before I quit because of my clumsiness. I received one of these; they’re actually very common. They make them look like money so you bother to pick it up and read it. The one I received said something like “You’re lucky! What you hold in your hand is more valuable than money! It an invitation to hear the word of Jesus Christ”.

I received these a handful of times as a waitress and once as a pizza delivery driver. Once in high school a girlfriend and I sat down on a busy Sunday on the table was the previous guests tip, one of those pamphlets and some coins. We were steamed over it, took the pamphlet and put a couple of dollars in it’s place. The one time as a driver a young kid came to pay for the pizza for some activity the church had for teens, he said “here’s a tip for you” handing me some paper and adding “lose the beads”. The car wasn’t mine so the rosary wasn’t either, both belonged to the restaurant owner’s father-in-law. I was mighty pissed the FIL was one of the kindest, most generous and caring people I had met to date. I handed back the paper and told him I wouldn’t bother with a church that used parsimony as an evangelizing tool, he had no idea what I meant. I really was very angry, on top of the disrespect shown over the rosary they usually tipped a meager amount, (the restaurant gave us extra since they were quite far away), it was almost an hour to load food, get there, unload food and get back.

Just another reason I detest religious proselytizers. Leaving pamphlets is a bad, bad, bad, method of evangelizing, those who receive them think poorly of both the customer and the church they come from, and they tell others about how they were treated by the person and the church.

 

[QuestLove]

I am withholding judgement on this story because we could very well find out that it is a hoax.
But assuming it is true, the person who left the tract did not even achieve his/her goal of evangelizing or spreading the gospel. Instead the news story is now about tipping and the deceit used to get the young man in question to read this pamphlet. This certainly hilights to me how the techniques that we use can detract from the real message that we want to send. No one likes the feeling of having been tricked.

 

[Allegra]

There are two different minimum wage scales in the US. One for people who receive tips regularly, and one for those who do not.

For those who do not receive regular tips. dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm

For those who do receive regular tips. dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm

Federal law sets the minimum standard that states are required to follow. States are free to expand these minimums, but, are not required to.

So yes, in essence, they are mandated to pay a lesser wage to those people who receive tips regularly.

Am I in the twilight zone? The federal government sets a MINIMUM wage not a maximum wage. That means that an employer is required to pay that wage or MORE. As long as they don’t pay LESS, they can pay their servers a six figure salary if they want to, whether or not they get tips. Employers CHOOSE to pay tipped servers less than the standard minimum wage because they CAN, not because they have to.

 

[Polycarp1]

I tip, but what I don’t like are people who think it should be automatic regardless of the service. I also don’t like when the choice to tip is taken away and pre-calculated into the bill.

 

[Tbrightson]

LOL Kansas represent.

I’m not surprised. Kansas has a long and rich history of people using faith as a way to excuse all manner of despicable behavior. I can totally believe that someone would namedrop Jesus as a way to justify their cheapness.

Aye,
Whenever I see a business wearing their Faith on their sleeve, like a bible verse in their ad, I tend to hold on to my wallet.

Had a landlord who was proud to say how Christian he was. Only to hear from an agent who finds him tenants tell me he brags how he has never returned a deposit, i.e. nickel and dimed the tenant on “damages”. Sure enough I got the same treatment. Well, he has received his reward I guess.

 

[sallybutler]

There are two different minimum wage scales in the US. One for people who receive tips regularly, and one for those who do not.

For those who do not receive regular tips. dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm

For those who do receive regular tips. dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm

Federal law sets the minimum standard that states are required to follow. States are free to expand these minimums, but, are not required to.

So yes, in essence, they are mandated to pay a lesser wage to those people who receive tips regularly.

They are mandated to pay NO LESS than the lower amount + they have to allow the worker to keep all tips. They are not allowed to make their workers work only for tips.

They are also able to pay their workers more than the minimum. And some resturants do.

 

[QuestLove]

I received these a handful of times as a waitress and once as a pizza delivery driver. Once in high school a girlfriend and I sat down on a busy Sunday on the table was the previous guests tip, one of those pamphlets and some coins. We were steamed over it, took the pamphlet and put a couple of dollars in it’s place. The one time as a driver a young kid came to pay for the pizza for some activity the church had for teens, he said “here’s a tip for you” handing me some paper and adding “lose the beads”. The car wasn’t mine so the rosary wasn’t either, both belonged to the restaurant owner’s father-in-law. I was mighty pissed the FIL was one of the kindest, most generous and caring people I had met to date. I handed back the paper and told him I wouldn’t bother with a church that used parsimony as an evangelizing tool, he had no idea what I meant. I really was very angry, on top of the disrespect shown over the rosary they usually tipped a meager amount, (the restaurant gave us extra since they were quite far away), it was almost an hour to load food, get there, unload food and get back.

Just another reason I detest religious proselytizers. Leaving pamphlets is a bad, bad, bad, method of evangelizing, those who receive them think poorly of both the customer and the church they come from, and they tell others about how they were treated by the person and the church.

 

[Allegra]

I also don’t like when the choice to tip is taken away and pre-calculated into the bill.

Do you apply this to all industries? For example, do you think that you choose whether or not you pay your doctor, after you have already used his services? Should the cashier that rings up your jeans only be paid if you feel like it and only the amount you see fit? Servers’ pay is designed to be subsidized by tipping. They are generally paid less than minimum wage. Utilizing the “choice” to not tip while partaking of the server’s labor is stealing. Morally, there is no choice, even if skimping is not illegal. The only exception would be in a situation where you know the server is already making a reasonable wage.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

I tip, but what I don’t like are people who think it should be automatic regardless of the service. I also don’t like when the choice to tip is taken away and pre-calculated into the bill.

I used to feel that way. One day, I received particularly bad service and I was livid that the tip was worked in. Then my much more calm, generous husband pointed out that by not tipping, I would be saying that not only am I entitled to go out and be waited on, the person who takes care of me is only worth about $2 an hour. Everyone has bad, embarrassing days at work. No one should have their pay dropped like that because of it.

When servers make so little, tips really aren’t optional, at least not morally.

 

[JD1789]

I worked as a waiter in a town near the one mentioned in the article. This type of thing happened about once a week I would say. It actually made it tougher to evangelize to my co-workers. Not one co-worker Christian or not ever benefited from this. One summed it up best “Yeah Jesus may love me and that’s great, but I need to be able to eat tonight”.

Please tip your waiters or chose a resteraunts where you are not served.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

Wow! Allegra beat me to it and almost word for word!

Great minds and such.

 

[zz912]

I will tell you that back in my server days (which were quite hedonistic) I always dreaded Sunday lunch shift. Can’t count how many times I would bust my hump waiting on a table that clearly just came from church, and at the end get a tip of $2, or worse, as we called them “Jesus cards”.

I was a lapsed Christian, and living a very hedonistic lifestyle, but I was never angry or negative towards the Christian faith, even at my worst. But I can’t tell you how bad it made all Christians look when a server got a cheap tip or Jesus card instead of a tip. For those who worked in the restaurant, Christianity had a very bad reputation.

I remember telling someone about the cheap tips and Jesus cards. I remember specifically telling them that “I can’t pay my bills with Jesus cards and thank you’s.” Now that I’m on this side of the interaction, I try in my small way to help improve the reputation that Christians hold and have a positive interaction with the server.

 

[JD1789]

I worked as a waiter in a town near the one mentioned in the article. This type of thing happened about once a week I would say. It actually made it tougher to evangelize to my co-workers. Not one co-worker Christian or not ever benefited from this. One summed it up best “Yeah Jesus may love me and that’s great, but I need to be able to eat tonight”.

Please tip your waiters or chose a resteraunts where you are not served.

 

[pianistclare]

I have to say, I agree with this completely. I’ve left small tips before if the service was truly terrible, but I always tip. Everyone should always tip; if you got anything more than a glass of water then you should leave a tip.

This is a really mean trick to play on someone, and probably did more harm to the person’s faith than good.

Agree. It displays Christians as hypocrites. Be kind! Except when you’re pulling a fast one. Ay yay yay.
No bueno.

 

[zaffiroborant]

I am withholding judgement on this story because we could very well find out that it is a hoax.
But assuming it is true, the person who left the tract did not even achieve his/her goal of evangelizing or spreading the gospel. Instead the news story is now about tipping and the deceit used to get the young man in question to read this pamphlet. This certainly hilights to me how the techniques that we use can detract from the real message that we want to send. No one likes the feeling of having been tricked.

I doubt it’s a hoax, I can’t think of a single person I’ve known who spent time waiting who said “I never got one of those”. It may be sometimes it’s the servers “big fish” tale, when a description of the amount of work and suffering endured at the hands of the Christian guest, but the underlying claim of pamphlet instead of tip is in IMO what happened. My daughter once was so excited because she thought she found money on the ground outside a store, she was very disappointed to find it was a religious tract.

 

[Peter_J]

I once heard a politician telling his opponent “I like to tip servers well, and then ask them to vote for me.” Then his opponent said “I like to tip them a nickel, and then ask them to vote for you.”

 

[Stillsosola]

servers rely on tips they normally dont make minimum wage just serving, i can understand how upset he was if he ran alot for that table that night he probably did think he had a decent tip coming

 

[WJeffrey]

As a former Waiter from my earlier former life, I wish the Waiter would have gone outside and told them that he was returning their forgotten reading material. People like that should be put in their place.

Nothing fills a Server full of more dread than seeing a large group of Fundamentalist Christians after Sunday service walking toward your station. They will run you like a dog, think they are clever with snarky remarks, stiff you or at most give you only 15% because you are so good that they are forced too, and then leave you reading material to save your soul.

They are too stupid to realize that someone who you just treated like garbage while dripping with faux piousness isn’t going to listen to your message no matter what it is.

Religious groups in general cause a universal groan from any Waiter. Fundamentalist Christians are the worst. If you don’t believe me, ask an honest Waiter.

 

[WJeffrey]

By the way. When you don’t tip a server, you are actually costing that server money. Servers taxes are based off of their total sales for the night. When you don’t tip they not only do not receive your tip, they still pay taxes on your bill.

So when you don’t tip, that single mother is paying the government for a part of your meal.

The $2.43 per hour that the restaurant pays them is not a living wage. Not tipping is very unchristian behavior.

 

[stinkcat_14]

I have to say, I agree with this completely. I’ve left small tips before if the service was truly terrible, but I always tip. Everyone should always tip; if you got anything more than a glass of water then you should leave a tip.

This is a really mean trick to play on someone, and probably did more harm to the person’s faith than good.

I have left no tip before when the service was terrible, but I made sure that I told the manager that the service was terrible and that there was no way I was paying a tip. If I weren’t going to pay a tip, I would make sure to voice my complaints to the manager to the server knows that I am dissatisfied with the service. Otherwise they might just think I am cheap and not learn their lessen.