[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
It is always good to lose memory of such incidences. LOL. : ) Another thought is how much time left on the earth, did the lettuce have? The wilt is inevitable for the leaf(s), and if one was to forage through the dumpster after the restaurant closes, there will be much more of a cluster than the one or two plates of salad taken from one who paid money for the rest of their dinner. Stealing could be trickled down to the essence of life, plant life, put in tune with a Federal Reserve Debt Note, but how does one tell mother nature that she is in the negative? I think if one eats dinner at another's home, it is customary in most cultures to finish all the food. Tell that to a restaurant. The brother to the leaf(s) is sitting in the back of the joint, carted away to a nearby dump, to feed the seagulls and rats and raccoon and if not that, the bacteria and sun and rain (Did I forget anyone?), drags it back to the earth and beyond. : ) Ruby Tuesday's will be happy to see you again as a customer, to get any penny out of you during a time the economy is not for the growth of competitors, but caters to those companies managing to sustain themselves from collecting leaves of lettuce from where ever they are grown and transported from, to share with us all. : ) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Denise Evans dmevans365@... wrote: Seriously, this is so familiar ( as admitted by someone else).I just assume God will forgive me my trespasses.  Re: my children...I always tell them, do as I say and not as I do :) I have never pulled a restaurant stunt like that though...well maybe not...I may have snuck some extra watermelon as a second helping at a buffet once.  Your memory for these indiscretions is excellent...mine is much worse. --- On Mon, 8/22/11, seventhray1 steve.sundur@... wrote: From: seventhray1 steve.sundur@... Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, August 22, 2011, 8:38 PM  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, azgrey no_reply@ wrote:  Do you feel what you did was right or wrong Lurk? It was wrong. You knew what the price was before you ever walked in Ruby Tuesdays that day, yet you took that salad without paying for it by paying the bill early while throwing the waiter a crumb to not rat you out to management. Poor kid. You comment he was watching you like a hawk. Did you bother to consider that you were placing his job and reputation at risk? He was watching you like a hawk because cheapskate sneak-thieves are easy to spot Lurk. Well I think you are blowing it quite a bit out of proportion. It would be difficult for me to think that I put I put anyone's job at risk. I paid $15.79 for a lump crab cake, one plate of waldorf salad. (a half plate at the beginning, and a half plate later on, and 4 ounces total of salad greens with some green peas, white cheese, parmasean cheese, and ranch dressing.  We had one plate of salad at the outset, and another small plate later on. I left a three dollar tip. We were there a total of 15 minutes. The way you told your story, being a little clever, seems to indicate you are proud of yourself. For your daughter's sake I hope she has had other sources to develop her moral center. Yes, using the phrase, a little clever does make it sound like I was proud of myself. That's not really the case. I wasn't proud, nor I was severe on myself for doing this. And yes, fortunately they have their mother, my wife, who exemplifies a better moral center.   The traits she has instilled in them along these lines seem to be predominant. But there is no doubt that they see a different side of things with me. Among some of the other things they see me do is disregard stop signs and red lights, usually on a Sunday when they may be there as a walkway for a commercial building that is not occupied. They also see me, almost without fail,  make a right turn on red, even when the sign says not to. They may even see me go down the wrong way on a one way street if I am bottled up in traffic. These are other things if you would like me to name them. Net, net, it was not moral action on my part. But I'm claiming it.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
What I have never been able to understand is how and why people leave so much food on their plate in restaurants. We don't. As a family we finish every bite. And rarely do we over order. Yes, we sometimes take food home that doesn't get eaten, but not too often, and if I find that is happening, I tell the kids to order less next time. A little story. For about the last year I have been taking part time care of my elderly Dad. He has someone who comes a few hours during the day, but I try to pick up some food for him every night, or sometimes we go out. Going out it one of the things that he enjoys. Often I bring the kids. One time as a splurge we went to the Cheesecake Factory. I know those types of menus, and know it is difficult to get out of there without spending a lot of money. Turns out he liked it quite a bit. And even though my wife and kids get a little embarrassed, I order in such a way that I know things will get eaten, and also stay in budget. It means asking for extra plates and doing a lot of sharing. Have you seen the Caesar salad they have the at the Cheesecake Factory for $7.99, (or maybe it's $8.99). That thing is enormous and can feed four people. And that's what we do. Then split a couple of pastas. My Dad gets the soup dejour and a Heineken with a frosted glass. The bread they serve at the beginning is quite tasty. Maybe we get a second helping of that. And we come in in the low 50's plus tip for four, or sometimes five people. (my wife is on weight watchers so she is a cheap date, and she is doing quite well thank you - looks great) And we will have made him happy and gotten a very tasty meal. I know I am boring people with this thread. But look at it this way. I'm not doing anything that others don't do in talking about all the features and apps, and hidden tools they have with their computers, phones, or other PDAs --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, obbajeeba no_reply@... wrote: It is always good to lose memory of such incidences. LOL. : ) Another thought is how much time left on the earth, did the lettuce have? The wilt is inevitable for the leaf(s), and if one was to forage through the dumpster after the restaurant closes, there will be much more of a cluster than the one or two plates of salad taken from one who paid money for the rest of their dinner. Stealing could be trickled down to the essence of life, plant life, put in tune with a Federal Reserve Debt Note, but how does one tell mother nature that she is in the negative? I think if one eats dinner at another's home, it is customary in most cultures to finish all the food. Tell that to a restaurant. The brother to the leaf(s) is sitting in the back of the joint, carted away to a nearby dump, to feed the seagulls and rats and raccoon and if not that, the bacteria and sun and rain (Did I forget anyone?), drags it back to the earth and beyond. : ) Ruby Tuesday's will be happy to see you again as a customer, to get any penny out of you during a time the economy is not for the growth of competitors, but caters to those companies managing to sustain themselves from collecting leaves of lettuce from where ever they are grown and transported from, to share with us all. : ) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Denise Evans dmevans365@ wrote: Seriously, this is so familiar ( as admitted by someone else).I just assume God will forgive me my trespasses.  Re: my children...I always tell them, do as I say and not as I do :) I have never pulled a restaurant stunt like that though...well maybe not...I may have snuck some extra watermelon as a second helping at a buffet once.  Your memory for these indiscretions is excellent...mine is much worse. --- On Mon, 8/22/11, seventhray1 steve.sundur@ wrote: From: seventhray1 steve.sundur@ Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, August 22, 2011, 8:38 PM  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, azgrey no_reply@ wrote:  Do you feel what you did was right or wrong Lurk? It was wrong. You knew what the price was before you ever walked in Ruby Tuesdays that day, yet you took that salad without paying for it by paying the bill early while throwing the waiter a crumb to not rat you out to management. Poor kid. You comment he was watching you like a hawk. Did you bother to consider that you were placing his job and reputation at risk? He was watching you like a hawk because cheapskate sneak-thieves are easy to spot Lurk. Well I think you are blowing it quite a bit out of proportion. It would be difficult for me to think that I put I put anyone's job at risk. I paid $15.79 for a lump crab cake, one plate of waldorf salad. (a half plate at the beginning, and a half plate later on, and 4 ounces total of salad greens with some green peas, white cheese, parmasean
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@... wrote: On Aug 22, 2011, at 8:59 PM, azgrey wrote: Do you feel what you did was right or wrong Lurk? Let me guess~~right. Right, lurk? How about accusing someone of lying about what you said, then when the evidence that you did indeed say it is posted, pretending you didn't see it and never apologizing for the false accusation? Do you feel that was right or wrong, Sal? And az, how about posting an out-of-context quote and pretending it meant something you knew it didn't mean in order to put somebody down simply because you don't like them? Do you feel that was right or wrong?
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
Sal, thank you for continuing the thread, because I live in a world of nuances, if that makes any sense, and there were a few nuances I left out. Comments below. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@... wrote: On Aug 22, 2011, at 10:52 PM, seventhray1 wrote: Sal, I'll call it for what it was. But we are not talking about a few bucks. We are talking about an additional $9.00 for a few ounces of salad greens. So, instead of the bill being $15.76, it would have been closer to $25.00. Again, it was stealing, but we might as well be clear about the amounts. The amount is irrelevant, but yeah~~that's a few bucks, esp. for someone who's made it clear he's as comfortable as you are. Is that really going to make much of a difference in the long run? Is it some day going to make the difference between you and your family eating, or not? Doubtful. And, as az says, you knew the amounts before going in. If you really wanted to make it right, you could easily go in and give them the $$, even anonymously. The fact that it's a big chain is also irrelevant~~ actual people work there and their livelihoods depend upon a certain amount of honesty in their customers. As you observed, they cannot constantly police the salad bar or anywhere else. And, just out of curiosity, why was the waiter watching you like a hawk? Thank you again Sal. Let me set the stage. The daughter and I were on a way to a shopping excursion. More on that a little later, possibly. We were running late. Now on the way to this excursion was one of those thoroughfares where there was every single fast food, and casual food option. She commented about how she really enjoyed the waldorf salad she had at McDonalds the day before. I said, sweetheart, where do you want to eat. Right then we saw a Ruby Tuesdays, and I rather impulsively turned into the parking lot. We entered and before the greeter could really even say hello, I said in a rather hurried fashion said we were ready to be seated. When the server came, before he could even say anything, I said we're ready to order. So, you may have picked up that I was being a little rude. Not a lot, but a little. I inquired about the price of the salad bar, and verified that a salad bar added on to any other items was only $2.99. I sort of asked, or hinted that couldn't we get a second salad bar for only $2.99. I indicated to him that we were here for a quick lunch. So, the fact that I was a little rude, and the fact that I had made an issue about the price of the salad bar got his antenna up. So, even though his back was to me, I knew he was watching to see how we handled the trip to the salad bar. And it was all kosher. And it was all kosher when my daughter ate the salad. Shortly thereafter came the crab cake, and shortly after that, I asked for the check. I said before that I tipped in excess of 20%, or $3.00, and yet I also indicated that the bill was $15.79. You may say, Lurk you have an inconsistency in your story. Well, no I don't. I tip based the amount before tax. That is something I learned from my Mom. She also said you can often double the tax amount for a rough idea of the right tip amount. Anyway, you know the rest of the story. (or however else you put it) Have you made a policy of surreptitiously helping yourself when you thought you could get away with it? Sal, I don't make a policy of it. I don't get a high off it. I wanted a few bites of salad, and I didn't want to pay $9.00 for it. I would have paid $2.99 for it, and I conveyed that to the server. I am not justifying it. I am just saying what I did. The other things you mentioned are all clearly law-breaking, and need no comment. Let's just hope, in your seemingly total disregard for safety measures set up to protect everyone, that when you go down one of your one-way streets or run one of your stop signs, that there isn't some innocent bystander driving or walking who gets plowed into in your hurry to get on with your life. It has not happened yet, or not even a close call. The best explanation is that I am a little crazy. Or maybe more than a little crazy. But that is simply how I live my life. In many ways careless, but in some ways impeccable. And it is the impeccability part that protects me. That may sound like a lot of gobbley gook, but it makes sense to me. Sal
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
Sounds to me like you are just doing what you are doing, easily enough, and ready to go into detail if needed. Raising children in a family takes a lot of energy, and sometimes drives you vs. the other way 'round - Thanks for the context. A Day In The Life. My thing with money is I pay the price or don't do it, though I don't see anything wrong with what you did. It would strike me as odd if you frequently shortchanged others, but you don't seem the type. So thanks for the story and all who participated in dragging it out of you!:-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@... wrote: Sal, thank you for continuing the thread, because I live in a world of nuances, if that makes any sense, and there were a few nuances I left out. Comments below. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@ wrote: On Aug 22, 2011, at 10:52 PM, seventhray1 wrote: Sal, I'll call it for what it was. But we are not talking about a few bucks. We are talking about an additional $9.00 for a few ounces of salad greens. So, instead of the bill being $15.76, it would have been closer to $25.00. Again, it was stealing, but we might as well be clear about the amounts. The amount is irrelevant, but yeah~~that's a few bucks, esp. for someone who's made it clear he's as comfortable as you are. Is that really going to make much of a difference in the long run? Is it some day going to make the difference between you and your family eating, or not? Doubtful. And, as az says, you knew the amounts before going in. If you really wanted to make it right, you could easily go in and give them the $$, even anonymously. The fact that it's a big chain is also irrelevant~~ actual people work there and their livelihoods depend upon a certain amount of honesty in their customers. As you observed, they cannot constantly police the salad bar or anywhere else. And, just out of curiosity, why was the waiter watching you like a hawk? Thank you again Sal. Let me set the stage. The daughter and I were on a way to a shopping excursion. More on that a little later, possibly. We were running late. Now on the way to this excursion was one of those thoroughfares where there was every single fast food, and casual food option. She commented about how she really enjoyed the waldorf salad she had at McDonalds the day before. I said, sweetheart, where do you want to eat. Right then we saw a Ruby Tuesdays, and I rather impulsively turned into the parking lot. We entered and before the greeter could really even say hello, I said in a rather hurried fashion said we were ready to be seated. When the server came, before he could even say anything, I said we're ready to order. So, you may have picked up that I was being a little rude. Not a lot, but a little. I inquired about the price of the salad bar, and verified that a salad bar added on to any other items was only $2.99. I sort of asked, or hinted that couldn't we get a second salad bar for only $2.99. I indicated to him that we were here for a quick lunch. So, the fact that I was a little rude, and the fact that I had made an issue about the price of the salad bar got his antenna up. So, even though his back was to me, I knew he was watching to see how we handled the trip to the salad bar. And it was all kosher. And it was all kosher when my daughter ate the salad. Shortly thereafter came the crab cake, and shortly after that, I asked for the check. I said before that I tipped in excess of 20%, or $3.00, and yet I also indicated that the bill was $15.79. You may say, Lurk you have an inconsistency in your story. Well, no I don't. I tip based the amount before tax. That is something I learned from my Mom. She also said you can often double the tax amount for a rough idea of the right tip amount. Anyway, you know the rest of the story. (or however else you put it) Have you made a policy of surreptitiously helping yourself when you thought you could get away with it? Sal, I don't make a policy of it. I don't get a high off it. I wanted a few bites of salad, and I didn't want to pay $9.00 for it. I would have paid $2.99 for it, and I conveyed that to the server. I am not justifying it. I am just saying what I did. The other things you mentioned are all clearly law-breaking, and need no comment. Let's just hope, in your seemingly total disregard for safety measures set up to protect everyone, that when you go down one of your one-way streets or run one of your stop signs, that there isn't some innocent bystander driving or walking who gets plowed into in your hurry to get on with your life. It has not happened yet, or not even a close call. The best explanation is that I am a little crazy. Or maybe more than a little crazy. But that is simply how I live my life. In many ways careless, but in some ways impeccable. And it
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
Thanks for the reply. No I don't make a habit of short changing people. I try to live by that first grade dictum, do unto others. I realize others could find a lot of inconsistencies in how I live, but also sometimes beneath the surface these inconsistencies get resolved. I am not trying to a Rory here. (Rory, you know I love you like a brother), but this is what works for me. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, whynotnow7 whynotnow7@... wrote: Sounds to me like you are just doing what you are doing, easily enough, and ready to go into detail if needed. Raising children in a family takes a lot of energy, and sometimes drives you vs. the other way 'round - Thanks for the context. A Day In The Life. My thing with money is I pay the price or don't do it, though I don't see anything wrong with what you did. It would strike me as odd if you frequently shortchanged others, but you don't seem the type. So thanks for the story and all who participated in dragging it out of you!:-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@ wrote: Sal, thank you for continuing the thread, because I live in a world of nuances, if that makes any sense, and there were a few nuances I left out. Comments below. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@ wrote: On Aug 22, 2011, at 10:52 PM, seventhray1 wrote: Sal, I'll call it for what it was. But we are not talking about a few bucks. We are talking about an additional $9.00 for a few ounces of salad greens. So, instead of the bill being $15.76, it would have been closer to $25.00. Again, it was stealing, but we might as well be clear about the amounts. The amount is irrelevant, but yeah~~that's a few bucks, esp. for someone who's made it clear he's as comfortable as you are. Is that really going to make much of a difference in the long run? Is it some day going to make the difference between you and your family eating, or not? Doubtful. And, as az says, you knew the amounts before going in. If you really wanted to make it right, you could easily go in and give them the $$, even anonymously. The fact that it's a big chain is also irrelevant~~ actual people work there and their livelihoods depend upon a certain amount of honesty in their customers. As you observed, they cannot constantly police the salad bar or anywhere else. And, just out of curiosity, why was the waiter watching you like a hawk? Thank you again Sal. Let me set the stage. The daughter and I were on a way to a shopping excursion. More on that a little later, possibly. We were running late. Now on the way to this excursion was one of those thoroughfares where there was every single fast food, and casual food option. She commented about how she really enjoyed the waldorf salad she had at McDonalds the day before. I said, sweetheart, where do you want to eat. Right then we saw a Ruby Tuesdays, and I rather impulsively turned into the parking lot. We entered and before the greeter could really even say hello, I said in a rather hurried fashion said we were ready to be seated. When the server came, before he could even say anything, I said we're ready to order. So, you may have picked up that I was being a little rude. Not a lot, but a little. I inquired about the price of the salad bar, and verified that a salad bar added on to any other items was only $2.99. I sort of asked, or hinted that couldn't we get a second salad bar for only $2.99. I indicated to him that we were here for a quick lunch. So, the fact that I was a little rude, and the fact that I had made an issue about the price of the salad bar got his antenna up. So, even though his back was to me, I knew he was watching to see how we handled the trip to the salad bar. And it was all kosher. And it was all kosher when my daughter ate the salad. Shortly thereafter came the crab cake, and shortly after that, I asked for the check. I said before that I tipped in excess of 20%, or $3.00, and yet I also indicated that the bill was $15.79. You may say, Lurk you have an inconsistency in your story. Well, no I don't. I tip based the amount before tax. That is something I learned from my Mom. She also said you can often double the tax amount for a rough idea of the right tip amount. Anyway, you know the rest of the story. (or however else you put it) Have you made a policy of surreptitiously helping yourself when you thought you could get away with it? Sal, I don't make a policy of it. I don't get a high off it. I wanted a few bites of salad, and I didn't want to pay $9.00 for it. I would have paid $2.99 for it, and I conveyed that to the server. I am not justifying it. I am just saying what I did. The other things you mentioned are all clearly law-breaking, and need no comment. Let's just hope, in your seemingly total disregard for safety
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
On Aug 23, 2011, at 8:33 PM, seventhray1 wrote: Sal, thank you for continuing the thread, because I live in a world of nuances, if that makes any sense, and there were a few nuances I left out. Comments below. Thank you. I don't agree with your conclusions, but at least you explained. Sal
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
Still reading thisI always tip 20 to 25% (if alcohol is involved) on the whole amount with the tax...I figure they deserve it (most do) and if I can't afford it than I can't afford to go out. --- On Tue, 8/23/11, seventhray1 steve.sun...@sbcglobal.net wrote: From: seventhray1 steve.sun...@sbcglobal.net Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Date: Tuesday, August 23, 2011, 6:33 PM Sal, thank you for continuing the thread, because I live in a world of nuances, if that makes any sense, and there were a few nuances I left out. Comments below. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@... wrote: On Aug 22, 2011, at 10:52 PM, seventhray1 wrote: Sal, I'll call it for what it was. But we are not talking about a few bucks. We are talking about an additional $9.00 for a few ounces of salad greens. So, instead of the bill being $15.76, it would have been closer to $25.00. Again, it was stealing, but we might as well be clear about the amounts. The amount is irrelevant, but yeah~~that's a few bucks, esp. for someone who's made it clear he's as comfortable as you are. Is that really going to make much of a difference in the long run? Is it some day going to make the difference between you and your family eating, or not? Doubtful. And, as az says, you knew the amounts before going in. If you really wanted to make it right, you could easily go in and give them the $$, even anonymously. The fact that it's a big chain is also irrelevant~~ actual people work there and their livelihoods depend upon a certain amount of honesty in their customers. As you observed, they cannot constantly police the salad bar or anywhere else. And, just out of curiosity, why was the waiter watching you like a hawk? Thank you again Sal. Let me set the stage. The daughter and I were on a way to a shopping excursion. More on that a little later, possibly. We were running late. Now on the way to this excursion was one of those thoroughfares where there was every single fast food, and casual food option. She commented about how she really enjoyed the waldorf salad she had at McDonalds the day before. I said, sweetheart, where do you want to eat. Right then we saw a Ruby Tuesdays, and I rather impulsively turned into the parking lot. We entered and before the greeter could really even say hello, I said in a rather hurried fashion said we were ready to be seated. When the server came, before he could even say anything, I said we're ready to order. So, you may have picked up that I was being a little rude. Not a lot, but a little. I inquired about the price of the salad bar, and verified that a salad bar added on to any other items was only $2.99. I sort of asked, or hinted that couldn't we get a second salad bar for only $2.99. I indicated to him that we were here for a quick lunch. So, the fact that I was a little rude, and the fact that I had made an issue about the price of the salad bar got his antenna up. So, even though his back was to me, I knew he was watching to see how we handled the trip to the salad bar. And it was all kosher. And it was all kosher when my daughter ate the salad. Shortly thereafter came the crab cake, and shortly after that, I asked for the check. I said before that I tipped in excess of 20%, or $3.00, and yet I also indicated that the bill was $15.79. You may say, Lurk you have an inconsistency in your story. Well, no I don't. I tip based the amount before tax. That is something I learned from my Mom. She also said you can often double the tax amount for a rough idea of the right tip amount. Anyway, you know the rest of the story. (or however else you put it) Have you made a policy of surreptitiously helping yourself when you thought you could get away with it? Sal, I don't make a policy of it. I don't get a high off it. I wanted a few bites of salad, and I didn't want to pay $9.00 for it. I would have paid $2.99 for it, and I conveyed that to the server. I am not justifying it. I am just saying what I did. The other things you mentioned are all clearly law-breaking, and need no comment. Let's just hope, in your seemingly total disregard for safety measures set up to protect everyone, that when you go down one of your one-way streets or run one of your stop signs, that there isn't some innocent bystander driving or walking who gets plowed into in your hurry to get on with your life. It has not happened yet, or not even a close call. The best explanation is that I am a little crazy. Or maybe more than a little crazy. But that is simply how I live my life. In many ways careless, but in some ways impeccable. And it is the impeccability part that protects me. That may sound like a lot of gobbley gook, but it makes sense to me. Sal
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
I would say that the tip should be on the actual amount of the bill i.e. before the coupons discounts. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig LEnglish5@... wrote: The maximum I have ever tipped is 1000 (one thousand) percent. Because of a combination of coupons, bonus points and lunch specials, our restaurant bill was only 59 cents. Just for the heck of it, I tacked on a $5.90 tip. :-) L. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@ wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 7:54 AM, turquoiseb wrote: 1. Tip well. The waitress can either be your best friend, or your worst enemy. If you want to come back and write in this cafe again, it is far better to be perceived as an over-tipping American than a cheapskate Dutchman. Just sayin'. Applies even to carry outs. Better to tip generously, but even a standard amount is acceptable. Just don't go below the standard. The expectation of a tip can really have an effect on service. If you are an infrequent diner, if you send some kind of non verbal cue, that helps, but usually you can't really do that, other than just being pleasant to the server. Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. But in general, it's nice to be perceived as being a little generous, which I can often do, because my lunch and dinner bills are usually pretty small.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
Steve, how could you do this? It has really shaken my faith in humanity. I think the earthquake today confirms this. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@... wrote: Thanks for the reply. No I don't make a habit of short changing people. I try to live by that first grade dictum, do unto others. I realize others could find a lot of inconsistencies in how I live, but also sometimes beneath the surface these inconsistencies get resolved. I am not trying to a Rory here. (Rory, you know I love you like a brother), but this is what works for me. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, whynotnow7 whynotnow7@ wrote: Sounds to me like you are just doing what you are doing, easily enough, and ready to go into detail if needed. Raising children in a family takes a lot of energy, and sometimes drives you vs. the other way 'round - Thanks for the context. A Day In The Life. My thing with money is I pay the price or don't do it, though I don't see anything wrong with what you did. It would strike me as odd if you frequently shortchanged others, but you don't seem the type. So thanks for the story and all who participated in dragging it out of you!:-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@ wrote: Sal, thank you for continuing the thread, because I live in a world of nuances, if that makes any sense, and there were a few nuances I left out. Comments below. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@ wrote: On Aug 22, 2011, at 10:52 PM, seventhray1 wrote: Sal, I'll call it for what it was. But we are not talking about a few bucks. We are talking about an additional $9.00 for a few ounces of salad greens. So, instead of the bill being $15.76, it would have been closer to $25.00. Again, it was stealing, but we might as well be clear about the amounts. The amount is irrelevant, but yeah~~that's a few bucks, esp. for someone who's made it clear he's as comfortable as you are. Is that really going to make much of a difference in the long run? Is it some day going to make the difference between you and your family eating, or not? Doubtful. And, as az says, you knew the amounts before going in. If you really wanted to make it right, you could easily go in and give them the $$, even anonymously. The fact that it's a big chain is also irrelevant~~ actual people work there and their livelihoods depend upon a certain amount of honesty in their customers. As you observed, they cannot constantly police the salad bar or anywhere else. And, just out of curiosity, why was the waiter watching you like a hawk? Thank you again Sal. Let me set the stage. The daughter and I were on a way to a shopping excursion. More on that a little later, possibly. We were running late. Now on the way to this excursion was one of those thoroughfares where there was every single fast food, and casual food option. She commented about how she really enjoyed the waldorf salad she had at McDonalds the day before. I said, sweetheart, where do you want to eat. Right then we saw a Ruby Tuesdays, and I rather impulsively turned into the parking lot. We entered and before the greeter could really even say hello, I said in a rather hurried fashion said we were ready to be seated. When the server came, before he could even say anything, I said we're ready to order. So, you may have picked up that I was being a little rude. Not a lot, but a little. I inquired about the price of the salad bar, and verified that a salad bar added on to any other items was only $2.99. I sort of asked, or hinted that couldn't we get a second salad bar for only $2.99. I indicated to him that we were here for a quick lunch. So, the fact that I was a little rude, and the fact that I had made an issue about the price of the salad bar got his antenna up. So, even though his back was to me, I knew he was watching to see how we handled the trip to the salad bar. And it was all kosher. And it was all kosher when my daughter ate the salad. Shortly thereafter came the crab cake, and shortly after that, I asked for the check. I said before that I tipped in excess of 20%, or $3.00, and yet I also indicated that the bill was $15.79. You may say, Lurk you have an inconsistency in your story. Well, no I don't. I tip based the amount before tax. That is something I learned from my Mom. She also said you can often double the tax amount for a rough idea of the right tip amount. Anyway, you know the rest of the story. (or however else you put it) Have you made a policy of surreptitiously helping yourself when you thought you could get away with it? Sal, I don't make a policy of it. I don't get a high off it. I wanted a few bites of salad, and I didn't want to
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7Ge7Sogrk --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@... wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 7:54 AM, turquoiseb wrote: 1. Tip well. The waitress can either be your best friend, or your worst enemy. If you want to come back and write in this cafe again, it is far better to be perceived as an over-tipping American than a cheapskate Dutchman. Just sayin'. I'd be in there about 5 minutes before they had me pegged. Barry, just out of curiosity, have you ever considered painting of any sort? Your writing often brings up a picture in my mind. Sal
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@ wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 6:25 PM, azgrey wrote: Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. So you are a thief who feels good about himself by making the server an accomplice and teaching your daughter its ok to be a sneak-thief. Nice, really really nice Lurk. That was my thought too~~basically cheating the restaurant and then feeling OK about it. No guilt? How nice. Not to mention that the extra tip money could have gone towards buying the salad bar honestly. I will not try to justify my actions. I was not willing to pay $9.00 for an extra plate of green salad, and a half plate of waldorf salad. I'm like that, for better or worse. Well, you can understand why Sal and az are shocked by your disgraceful deed. After all, we know both of them are veritable paragons of integrity. And of course if either of them ever did anything the least bit fishy and were called on it, they'd immediately own up, like you just did.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@ wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 6:25 PM, azgrey wrote: Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. So you are a thief who feels good about himself by making the server an accomplice and teaching your daughter its ok to be a sneak-thief. Nice, really really nice Lurk. That was my thought too~~basically cheating the restaurant and then feeling OK about it. No guilt? How nice. Not to mention that the extra tip money could have gone towards buying the salad bar honestly. I will not try to justify my actions. I was not willing to pay $9.00 for an extra plate of green salad, and a half plate of waldorf salad. I'm like that, for better or worse. Well, you can understand why Sal and az are shocked by your disgraceful deed. After all, we know both of them are veritable paragons of integrity. And of course if either of them ever did anything the least bit fishy and were called on it, they'd immediately own up, like you just did. Steve is really innocent and simple minded, and like you say honest.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
The maximum I have ever tipped is 1000 (one thousand) percent. Because of a combination of coupons, bonus points and lunch specials, our restaurant bill was only 59 cents. Just for the heck of it, I tacked on a $5.90 tip. :-) L. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@... wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 7:54 AM, turquoiseb wrote: 1. Tip well. The waitress can either be your best friend, or your worst enemy. If you want to come back and write in this cafe again, it is far better to be perceived as an over-tipping American than a cheapskate Dutchman. Just sayin'. Applies even to carry outs. Better to tip generously, but even a standard amount is acceptable. Just don't go below the standard. The expectation of a tip can really have an effect on service. If you are an infrequent diner, if you send some kind of non verbal cue, that helps, but usually you can't really do that, other than just being pleasant to the server. Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. But in general, it's nice to be perceived as being a little generous, which I can often do, because my lunch and dinner bills are usually pretty small.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@... wrote: Well, you can understand why Sal and az are shocked by your disgraceful deed. After all, we know both of them are veritable paragons of integrity. And of course if either of them ever did anything the least bit fishy and were called on it, they'd immediately own up, like you just did. Thanks for the little show of support. (-:
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@ wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 6:25 PM, azgrey wrote: Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. So you are a thief who feels good about himself by making the server an accomplice and teaching your daughter its ok to be a sneak-thief. Nice, really really nice Lurk. That was my thought too~~basically cheating the restaurant and then feeling OK about it. No guilt? How nice. Not to mention that the extra tip money could have gone towards buying the salad bar honestly. I will not try to justify my actions. I was not willing to pay $9.00 for an extra plate of green salad, and a half plate of waldorf salad. I'm like that, for better or worse. Do you feel what you did was right or wrong Lurk? You knew what the price was before you ever walked in Ruby Tuesdays that day, yet you took that salad without paying for it by paying the bill early while throwing the waiter a crumb to not rat you out to management. Poor kid. You comment he was watching you like a hawk. Did you bother to consider that you were placing his job and reputation at risk? He was watching you like a hawk because cheapskate sneak-thieves are easy to spot Lurk. The way you told your story, being a little clever, seems to indicate you are proud of yourself. For your daughter's sake I hope she has had other sources to develop her moral center.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: Well, you can understand why Sal and az are shocked by your disgraceful deed. After all, we know both of them are veritable paragons of integrity. And of course if either of them ever did anything the least bit fishy and were called on it, they'd immediately own up, like you just did. Thanks for the little show of support. (-: Lurk you really need help if you think that was support. The borderline personality disordered supporter you thank is a sour sour little plu.. oh, nevermind.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
On Aug 22, 2011, at 8:59 PM, azgrey wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@ wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 6:25 PM, azgrey wrote: Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. So you are a thief who feels good about himself by making the server an accomplice and teaching your daughter its ok to be a sneak-thief. Nice, really really nice Lurk. That was my thought too~~basically cheating the restaurant and then feeling OK about it. No guilt? How nice. Not to mention that the extra tip money could have gone towards buying the salad bar honestly. I will not try to justify my actions. Nice. You're in the right place. I was not willing to pay $9.00 for an extra plate of green salad, and a half plate of waldorf salad. I'm like that, for better or worse. Like *what* exactly? A cheat? Someone who puts some low-paid worker's job at risk so he can go home and feel smugly clever? Do you feel what you did was right or wrong Lurk? Let me guess~~right. Right, lurk? You knew what the price was before you ever walked in Ruby Tuesdays that day, yet you took that salad without paying for it by paying the bill early while throwing the waiter a crumb to not rat you out to management. Poor kid. You comment he was watching you like a hawk. Did you bother to consider that you were placing his job and reputation at risk? He was watching you like a hawk because cheapskate sneak-thieves are easy to spot Lurk. The way you told your story, being a little clever, seems to indicate you are proud of yourself. For your daughter's sake I hope she has had other sources to develop her moral center. I think it's a lot more than just the few bucks involved, when presumably just a few more would have paid for the salad bar. Something else is going on here, who knows what. I think your last paragraph above sums it all up though. Sal
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, azgrey no_reply@... wrote: Do you feel what you did was right or wrong Lurk? It was wrong. You knew what the price was before you ever walked in Ruby Tuesdays that day, yet you took that salad without paying for it by paying the bill early while throwing the waiter a crumb to not rat you out to management. Poor kid. You comment he was watching you like a hawk. Did you bother to consider that you were placing his job and reputation at risk? He was watching you like a hawk because cheapskate sneak-thieves are easy to spot Lurk. Well I think you are blowing it quite a bit out of proportion. It would be difficult for me to think that I put I put anyone's job at risk. I paid $15.79 for a lump crab cake, one plate of waldorf salad. (a half plate at the beginning, and a half plate later on, and 4 ounces total of salad greens with some green peas, white cheese, parmasean cheese, and ranch dressing. We had one plate of salad at the outset, and another small plate later on. I left a three dollar tip. We were there a total of 15 minutes. The way you told your story, being a little clever, seems to indicate you are proud of yourself. For your daughter's sake I hope she has had other sources to develop her moral center. Yes, using the phrase, a little clever does make it sound like I was proud of myself. That's not really the case. I wasn't proud, nor I was severe on myself for doing this. And yes, fortunately they have their mother, my wife, who exemplifies a better moral center. The traits she has instilled in them along these lines seem to be predominant. But there is no doubt that they see a different side of things with me. Among some of the other things they see me do is disregard stop signs and red lights, usually on a Sunday when they may be there as a walkway for a commercial building that is not occupied. They also see me, almost without fail, make a right turn on red, even when the sign says not to. They may even see me go down the wrong way on a one way street if I am bottled up in traffic. These are other things if you would like me to name them. Net, net, it was not moral action on my part. But I'm claiming it.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, azgrey no_reply@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: Well, you can understand why Sal and az are shocked by your disgraceful deed. After all, we know both of them are veritable paragons of integrity. And of course if either of them ever did anything the least bit fishy and were called on it, they'd immediately own up, like you just did. Thanks for the little show of support. (-: Lurk you really need help if you think that was support. The borderline personality disordered supporter you thank is a sour sour little plu.. oh, nevermind. Well maybe she noticed some pearly white teeth. Remember that one?
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@... wrote: Like *what* exactly? A cheat? Someone who puts some low-paid worker's job at risk so he can go home and feel smugly clever? Sal, fine to call me a cheat. I can't dispute that. But please don''t say that I put the server's job at risk. He did nothing wrong. It wasn't his job to monitor people's behavior at the salad bar. And to be technical about it, once he saw that I didn't immediately partake of the salad bar, I think he lost interest. And FWIW, he was a long time server because it has been at least two years since they had avocado salad dressing, and I asked him about it, and he knew it had been discontinued since that time. As far as feeling clever', I hope I have addressed then in the previous post. But I'll be honest Sal, this is the most attention I've gotten in some time, and I'm kind of enjoying it. But really, I not going to argue about the final conclusion. Do you feel what you did was right or wrong Lurk? Let me guess~~right. Right, lurk? Sal, I'm not going to fool myself. I know right from wrong. You knew what the price was before you ever walked in Ruby Tuesdays that day, yet you took that salad without paying for it by paying the bill early while throwing the waiter a crumb to not rat you out to management. Poor kid. You comment he was watching you like a hawk. Did you bother to consider that you were placing his job and reputation at risk? He was watching you like a hawk because cheapskate sneak-thieves are easy to spot Lurk. The way you told your story, being a little clever, seems to indicate you are proud of yourself. For your daughter's sake I hope she has had other sources to develop her moral center. I think it's a lot more than just the few bucks involved, when presumably just a few more would have paid for the salad bar. Something else is going on here, who knows what. I think your last paragraph above sums it all up though. Sal, I'll call it for what it was. But we are not talking about a few bucks. We are talking about an additional $9.00 for a few ounces of salad greens. So, instead of the bill being $15.76, it would have been closer to $25.00. Again, it was stealing, but we might as well be clear about the amounts.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
Seriously, this is so familiar ( as admitted by someone else).I just assume God will forgive me my trespasses. Re: my children...I always tell them, do as I say and not as I do :) I have never pulled a restaurant stunt like that though...well maybe not...I may have snuck some extra watermelon as a second helping at a buffet once. Your memory for these indiscretions is excellent...mine is much worse. --- On Mon, 8/22/11, seventhray1 steve.sun...@sbcglobal.net wrote: From: seventhray1 steve.sun...@sbcglobal.net Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, August 22, 2011, 8:38 PM --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, azgrey no_reply@... wrote: Do you feel what you did was right or wrong Lurk? It was wrong. You knew what the price was before you ever walked in Ruby Tuesdays that day, yet you took that salad without paying for it by paying the bill early while throwing the waiter a crumb to not rat you out to management. Poor kid. You comment he was watching you like a hawk. Did you bother to consider that you were placing his job and reputation at risk? He was watching you like a hawk because cheapskate sneak-thieves are easy to spot Lurk. Well I think you are blowing it quite a bit out of proportion. It would be difficult for me to think that I put I put anyone's job at risk. I paid $15.79 for a lump crab cake, one plate of waldorf salad. (a half plate at the beginning, and a half plate later on, and 4 ounces total of salad greens with some green peas, white cheese, parmasean cheese, and ranch dressing. We had one plate of salad at the outset, and another small plate later on. I left a three dollar tip. We were there a total of 15 minutes. The way you told your story, being a little clever, seems to indicate you are proud of yourself. For your daughter's sake I hope she has had other sources to develop her moral center. Yes, using the phrase, a little clever does make it sound like I was proud of myself. That's not really the case. I wasn't proud, nor I was severe on myself for doing this. And yes, fortunately they have their mother, my wife, who exemplifies a better moral center. The traits she has instilled in them along these lines seem to be predominant. But there is no doubt that they see a different side of things with me. Among some of the other things they see me do is disregard stop signs and red lights, usually on a Sunday when they may be there as a walkway for a commercial building that is not occupied. They also see me, almost without fail, make a right turn on red, even when the sign says not to. They may even see me go down the wrong way on a one way street if I am bottled up in traffic. These are other things if you would like me to name them. Net, net, it was not moral action on my part. But I'm claiming it.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb no_reply@... wrote: snip 6. Never edit what you find yourself writing. That's what publishers pay non-writers to do; they're paying you to write. Division of labor, dudes. *So* wrong. So arrogant. So counterproductive. No need to tweak punctuation (unless it makes a difference to your meaning) or check your spelling or grammar. But for goodness' sake, *read over* what you've just written to see whether it makes sense, and revise as needed until it does. DO NOT leave that to your editors. It isn't fair to them to be forced to puzzle out what you meant and fix your sloppiness and incoherence. It wastes their time; and if they guess wrong, you'll either have to fix *their* fix, or, if you don't get to see their fixes before publication, you'll have to live with your name being attached in print to something you never meant to say, or something said badly by non-writers. Or both. In my experience, no *good* writer is so arrogant as to think a first draft is perfect just as it is. That may happen by accident, or some kind of divine inspiration, once in a blue moon, but it's the sheerest hubris to assume that it's going to happen *every time*. Your publishers are not just paying you to put any old words on a page; they're paying you to give them the best work of which you're capable. And unless you're a total hack, that won't be your first draft, or maybe even your second or third. The best writers spend more time revising than they do setting down that first draft.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7Ge7Sogrk --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@... wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 7:54 AM, turquoiseb wrote: 1. Tip well. The waitress can either be your best friend, or your worst enemy. If you want to come back and write in this cafe again, it is far better to be perceived as an over-tipping American than a cheapskate Dutchman. Just sayin'. I'd be in there about 5 minutes before they had me pegged. Barry, just out of curiosity, have you ever considered painting of any sort? Your writing often brings up a picture in my mind. Sal
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
On Aug 21, 2011, at 7:54 AM, turquoiseb wrote: 1. Tip well. The waitress can either be your best friend, or your worst enemy. If you want to come back and write in this cafe again, it is far better to be perceived as an over-tipping American than a cheapskate Dutchman. Just sayin'. Applies even to carry outs. Better to tip generously, but even a standard amount is acceptable. Just don't go below the standard. The expectation of a tip can really have an effect on service. If you are an infrequent diner, if you send some kind of non verbal cue, that helps, but usually you can't really do that, other than just being pleasant to the server. Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. But in general, it's nice to be perceived as being a little generous, which I can often do, because my lunch and dinner bills are usually pretty small.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
Obladi oblada life goes on, bra lala how the life goes on obladi oblada life goes on, bra lala how the life goes on And if you want some fun sing obladi blada --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, obbajeeba no_reply@... wrote: wow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7Ge7Sogrk that's art dude!! Sal was only asking for a painting job [;)] http://www.paintinghere.com/UploadPic/Alphonse_Maria_Mucha/big/JOB.jpg http://tinyurl.com/3m66rce --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@ wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 7:54 AM, turquoiseb wrote: 1. Tip well. The waitress can either be your best friend, or your worst enemy. If you want to come back and write in this cafe again, it is far better to be perceived as an over-tipping American than a cheapskate Dutchman. Just sayin'. I'd be in there about 5 minutes before they had me pegged. Barry, just out of curiosity, have you ever considered painting of any sort? Your writing often brings up a picture in my mind. Sal
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@... wrote: Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. So you are a thief who feels good about himself by making the server an accomplice and teaching your daughter its ok to be a sneak-thief. Nice, really really nice Lurk.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
On Aug 21, 2011, at 6:25 PM, azgrey wrote: Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. So you are a thief who feels good about himself by making the server an accomplice and teaching your daughter its ok to be a sneak-thief. Nice, really really nice Lurk. That was my thought too~~basically cheating the restaurant and then feeling OK about it. No guilt? How nice. Not to mention that the extra tip money could have gone towards buying the salad bar honestly. Sal
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, azgrey no_reply@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seventhray1 steve.sundur@ wrote: Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. So you are a thief who feels good about himself by making the server an accomplice and teaching your daughter its ok to be a sneak-thief. Nice, really really nice Lurk. Sad, but true. I guess it was like last night, when at the last minute we purchased $40.00 tickets for Katy Perry, way up high, and then found some seats lower down. I own up to up it.
[FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@... wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 6:25 PM, azgrey wrote: Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. So you are a thief who feels good about himself by making the server an accomplice and teaching your daughter its ok to be a sneak-thief. Nice, really really nice Lurk. That was my thought too~~basically cheating the restaurant and then feeling OK about it. No guilt? How nice. Not to mention that the extra tip money could have gone towards buying the salad bar honestly. I will not try to justify my actions. I was not willing to pay $9.00 for an extra plate of green salad, and a half plate of waldorf salad. I'm like that, for better or worse.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing
Subjective ethics...the bane of humanity. Alright, alright! I admit it..I purchased my children ski lift tickets at the child rate (when they were just a tad over the age limit, or maybe it was a year or so) by attesting honestly to the fact they were under 12 (or was it 10) and maybe I did this once (but only once) at the movie theatre. Om namah shivaya --- On Sun, 8/21/11, seventhray1 steve.sun...@sbcglobal.net wrote: From: seventhray1 steve.sun...@sbcglobal.net Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Laws Of Nature Of Cafe Writing To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, August 21, 2011, 8:04 PM --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunshine@... wrote: On Aug 21, 2011, at 6:25 PM, azgrey wrote: Yesterday I was a little clever. The daughter and I stopped in for a quick lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They've got a great crab cake appetizer and a great salad bar. Salad bar is $2.99 with anything ordered, otherwise it's $8.99. We ordered one crab cake and one salad bar, and that server was watching me like a hawk making sure I wasn't going to partake of that salad bar. (It was for my daughter). I asked for the bill early, gave him a generous tip (well over 20%), and then got an extra serving or two at the salad bar which I ate without guilt. So you are a thief who feels good about himself by making the server an accomplice and teaching your daughter its ok to be a sneak-thief. Nice, really really nice Lurk. That was my thought too~~basically cheating the restaurant and then feeling OK about it. No guilt? How nice. Not to mention that the extra tip money could have gone towards buying the salad bar honestly. I will not try to justify my actions. I was not willing to pay $9.00 for an extra plate of green salad, and a half plate of waldorf salad. I'm like that, for better or worse.
