Saturday, June 7, 2008

City of Cheapskates II

I stand by my comments about el-cheapo Dayton folk. In fact my opinion was confirmed yet again last evening.

The time: Friday evening. The place: Cold Beer and Cheesburgers on Jefferson Street, downtown.

I and my partner decided to get some munchies after cocktails, and CB&C is good for that (great concept, too...Cold Beer + Cheesburgers..even though we had iced tea). Next to us was a party of 6 + one preschooler.

My partner overhead them discussing the tip, discussing whether or not to even leave a tip.

And they didn't. Stiffed the waitstaff (and they were being waited on by two).

Looking at them when they were leaving, well dressed, and half the party got into an SUV. I know the downtown CB&C gets a more urban and maybe lower income crowd..it's not an upscale place...but this party looked like they could afford a tip.

I guess they needed the money to put gas in that SUV.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Jeffrey, as somebody who had waited tables for 4 years and worked as a bartender for another 4 years - all in Chicagoland and St. Petersburg, FL - I can speak with authority on this subject. Your generalization is just that - a huge generalization. Of all the years I relied on tips for a living and in all of the different locations I did so, I've never been able to say that one area is cheaper or more generous than another. Admittedly I have never relied on tips while living in the Dayton region but I do know I've never witnessed anybody I associate with here in the Dayton region leave a poor tip unless it was justified.

Ironically one's economic status has little correlation with how well a tipper he/she is. I have been stiffed by Mercedes-driving folks and have been given 50% tips from people driving a beat-up Civic. And vice-versa. Anybody in the business will tell you that you never know for sure how anybody is going to tip you.

To say that everybody in the Dayton region is cheap because you witnessed a couple of bad tippers is unfortunate. Had you witnessed that same table leave a one hundred dollar tip would you then be blogging about how generous people in Dayton are?

Papa Ubu said...

Be careful Mr. Geoffrey! Bill Pout's Babbitry is infectious! It has obviously inflicted him with a case of rose-tinted glaucoma.

Papa Ubu