Read Carefully...

...and take notes.

Tonight I came home angry and upset from work. If I had initially written this entry before calming down it would have read much differently. I'm fortunate though to have calm and humorous friends who also write blog entries that I check periodically (okay so just about everyday). Tonight I was reading Brendan's latest blog entry and it had a very soothing effect on me. I was halfway through Brendan's entry when I realized I was laughing over chamber pots. That's when I knew the world was right again.

What had me so upset earlier was a large table of people that decided not to leave me a monetary tip, instead they found it cute to leave me a written tip.

And I quote, "The best tip we could give you is to read your Book of Mormon, and pray about it concerning the truth. God will give you the answer and eternal salvation if only you accept it."

This short message was written on the back of a credit card receipt. I probably stared at this note for a full minute just burning it into my memory. I've experienced a lot working as a waitress, but never this. Sure, I've had people not leave me tips before. I've even had people walk off without paying their bill. But I've never had someone give me a verbal tip like this.

Now, I have many Latter-Day Saint friends here in Utah. I respect and love each of them, and I know they would never do something of a similar nature, nor do most people in the LDS Church. So, I'm going to try to write this next part without any anger or generalizations to one particular faith. (Cause lets face it ignorant people come from all cultures, religions, races and sexes).

I'm ignorant in a lot of stuff myself, but as far as the restaurant business goes I'm fairly knowledgeable. There are certain things that I'll never do at a restaurant (I'm sharing so you won't find yourself as an ignorant one).

1. I'll always leave a monetary tip (no cards, notes, verbal tips, or gifts in exchange).
2. I'm careful to remember that servers are people too and deserve respect, a please and thank you are nice.
3. I'm always carefully of the time (how much time I occupy a table (remember tables are a servers livelihood - I certainly don't need to sit there for three hours or more - and the time as far as the hours of business).
4. Along with the hours of business I always make sure that I can be finished and out the door of a restaurant before it closes. If I won't be able to sit and finish my meal before their closing time then I won't go out to eat.

The last table I served tonight (the note on a credit card receipt) broke a lot of my rules. They showed up at a quarter till our closing time with a party of 15 people. When I saw them walk through the door I wanted to cry. Here we were (the waitresses, cooks, dishwashers, management) all about 15 minutes from leaving and going home and in walks all these people. Our night went from almost over to another two hours to go.

Of course as you know I waited on the table. For the most part they ignored my presence (which meant I had to ask questions several times just to get their attention). The only time when they realized I was there was when the grandfather figure asked me if I was LDS and when I said I wasn't, almost all of them told me in turn what a blessing I was missing.

Finally, we had their drinks and food served and everyone seemed content. They used a credit card to pay and you know the rest of the story about the note. So, there I am staring at this note at about 11:45 p.m. almost an hour after we had locked our doors. Chili's restaurant had stayed open for them I had stayed working past closing to serve them and they didn't leave me anything (and remember Chili's only pays me $2.13 an hour). So, for the two hours extra work these people put me through I made a total of $4.26 which bussers, bartenders and the government all got a piece of. In the end I probably lost money waiting on this table. I can't say the situation was making me very happy.

Okay, I'm making myself angry again. I have a lot of praying I need to be doing, trying to forgive them their ignorance and poor behavior. Let me just say one more thing, in an effort to look at the positive this group of people taught me one valuable lesson; always be aware of your witness. I'll tell you one thing, I'm not any closer to stepping into an LDS Church or picking up a Book of Mormon from their witness and note.

I said this earlier and I'll say it again, I know some of the greatest Latter-Day Saints, don't judge the lot based on the actions of a few. My story wasn't for the purposes of putting down any faith or religious belief, it was more for the sake of sharing what NOT to do.