A Comment on Comments (Veterans Day Edition)

A comment on comments

A comment on comments

On Tuesday, I posted what I thought was a sweet little tribute to the Veterans of this country in honor of their day, mentioning how grateful I am that there are people in our country who are willing to do jobs that I couldn’t imagine having to do. I also included a link to the many restaurants around the country that will provide veterans with either a free or a discounted meal as a thank you for their service. At the very end of the post, I added:

Please remember to tip your server, even if there is no bill… No one who serves, whether it be in Iraq or Olive Garden, wants to do it for free. As the restaurant thanks you for your service, please make sure to tip your server for theirs.

No big deal, right? Wrong. A lot of people thought I was kind of an asshole for mentioning the whole tip thing. A few people agreed with me but plenty of people acted like I was a goddamn un-American asshole for even talking about the tip.

Susan said: I Would Have Thought Risking Your Life For Stranger’s Is Tip Enough……I’m Just Sayin…….

Cynthia said: Heaven forbid you would give up that all mighty tip to do something nice for a veteran without being compensated for it! Shame.

Dylan said: One day of the year were your tips shouldn’t matter as you wouldn’t be alive without these veterans.

Michael said: You’re a server and these folks have given far more than you’ll ever do. Shake it off for once and stop thinking about yourself, you self-absorbed twat. They risked their lives in service of their country to help protect the freedoms you enjoy. That’s tip enough, bitch.

At first, I could see their point and I felt bad for even reminding them that they should leave a tip if they were getting their food for free. After all, they did a great service for our country and we certainly owe them a lot for it. But then I started thinking. Veterans Day is a national holiday so all the people who work in banks and offices and for the government got a paid day off on Tuesday. Most people who work in restaurants have never even heard of a paid day off. If someone told a bank teller that they were going to have to come to work on Veterans Day this year but they weren’t going to get paid for it because the veterans already gave so much for their country, that bank teller would be all, “ummm, fuck that shit. I want my money. I don’t work for free” No one would think that’s fair to the bank teller and no one would suggest that it happen, yet for food servers, plenty of people seem to think it’s alright that we sacrifice our tips that day and that we should just focus on the “bigger picture.” Isn’t this just one more example of people looking at the occupation of server as less than a “real job?” Why should we be okay with giving up a portion of our income on behalf of veterans who don’t leave a tip. Just because a server expects to earn money when they go to work does not mean they think less of our country’s veterans. It just means that we want to get paid for the job we do just like every one else does. Regardless of why you got your food for free you just have to leave a tip!

Now before you jump all over me, I know there were plenty of veterans who left great tips because people also commented on that:

Teresa said: I enjoyed serving the vets AND I made bank!

David said: I did very well!

Grace said: Survived the free meal special at Applebee’s today. Thankfully we always have sweet and generous veterans who visit us. I love being able to serve our nation’s heroes but tips do help.

Let me just leave you with one more comment:

William said: For all that have anything negative to say about vets in this post u are just ignorant un-American pieces of dog shit. I am a vet and majority of my friends are vets and we always tip.but if one day out of the year we feel like being assholes guess what we deserved it and maybe u should dawn those boots and riffle and then maybe we would care about what u have to say on this subject.

Alright, William, listen. No one in any comment said anything negative about vets. All they did was asked to be tipped. Just because you “dawned” boots and a “riffle” does not give you the “I Get To Be An Asshole Card” for the rest of your life. You can be as rude as you want to people but if you think it’s alright to deny a server a tip and make them work for free, you are wrong. When President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day in 1919, I don’t think he meant it as justification for you to go to a restaurant once a year and stiff your server. If that’s what you think you earned for serving our country, maybe you are an asshole. (Your words, not mine.)

In closing, I want to make sure everyone knows that I am not anti-Veterans Day or un-American. I have never had anything bad to say about anyone who serves our country. I only have bad things to say about people who don’t feel the need to tip and if you happen to be a veteran, then so be it. If the restaurants are going to let the vets eat for free, maybe the restaurants should cover the tips for the servers too. Just a thought.

 

 

Discussion

  1. Reginald
  2. MJ Padilla
  3. Beefcake
  4. Lisa misak
  5. Noya
    • Noya
  6. Robin
    • The Bitchy Waiter
  7. Mike
  8. m
  9. Lauren
  10. Jamie
    • JTE
  11. brent
  12. BobbyAnn
  13. Molly
    • Anonymous
      • m
  14. Lynn Mckeel
  15. Cynthia
  16. Jessica
  17. DHB
    • Sarah
      • BobbyAnn
    • Ashley
      • DHB
        • Ashley
  18. Bobbie
  19. Anonymous
  20. Mark W
    • Jason M
    • The Bitchy Waiter
    • DHB
  21. leanne
  22. D
    • D
  23. Jenn
  24. LaFawne
    • DHB
      • Blood and Guts
  25. Chrystle
    • Cynthia
    • Ange
      • Noxy
    • Anonymous
    • Ashley
  26. Dave Rad
    • Alan H.
    • Kylie
    • Lani
      • Lani
    • amelia
    • BobbyAnn

Leave a Reply