Bahtatboy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...born-baby.html

A waitress who reported a woman to police who was consuming 'drink after drink of alcohol' while breastfeeding her child at the same time at a restaurant in Arkansas says she was fired from her job for taking matters into her own hands.

As far as I'm concerned, waiters and waitresses are there to wait. If there's clearly something illegal happening then they--as much as anyone else--have a responsibility to inform the police, but it seems that this situation is a long way from clear.

Waiters and waitresses introducing themselves by name when they meet you is the thin end of the wedge. I go to restaurants to be with my friends, family or colleagues, not to meet new people. I'm polite to waiting staff (if they're good and/or trying hard), but I don't give a stuff about their names.

OleJanx

What I hate is when you get "I'm X, and I'll be your wait-person, and if you haven't dined here before, I'll explain our concept.." ARRRGGGHHH!

Bahtatboy

Jeez, never had that. Concept? I order, you cook and serve, I eat and pay. Am I missing something?

Boomhauer

Plenty of that here in the good Ole U S of A. It's a polite way of making you aware that you must tip

I tip always, between 25-30% of the food cost, even when the service is mediocre, because I am too embrassed to not tip and just feel bad about not tipping. This has actually led to me eating out less because I cringe about tipping when the service is subpar.

Fossildog

My Mother in law once complained about some pasta she ordered being a bit too Al dente only for the chef to come storming out and berate her for not understanding the concept and nuance of a specific northern Italian regions food.

Alexa

Being European and being used to bad , unfriendly service ( something I was not aware of until I left Europe), I must admit the lengthy introduction and speech about the resto and food is a bit much. Besides usually not understanding everything and not being able to memorize all of it, it is totally lost on me.
Never the less, I do understand that most natives like and expect it.
I tip, no matter what, simply because I can afford it and I know that a waiter/waitress makes very little money.
The most distressing thing I was part of, was when , due to a family emergency we spent Christmas Eve at an IHOP..(long story). The waitress, about may age, was about to pop her baby out. Despite being heavily pregnant , spending Christmas Eve at work instead of with her family, she gave us excellent service, smiling, joking, chatting. She was serving at least 10 tables . I felt so bad for her, I gave her a 100 $ tip.
Her smile was the best Christmas present for me. I believe I was there for a reason, and all worked out well.

kittycat1

Alexa the cynic in me says it was a fake bump

Ethos83

Don't be daft. That's a lot of tip even by US standards.

I never tip more than 15% in the US. It used to be the standard though lately people seem to be tipping 20%.

Ethos83

I've seen pregnant waitresses before. If it was in the US it may be that she had to work to hold on to her health insurance to pay for the pregnancy.

kittycat1

I was joking Ethos