Originally Posted by
DJGMaster1
I actually NEVER said that it is okay for them to do that, and I don't believe that it is. But it is very common practice, and it would be naive to believe otherwise.
And the fact is, it is foolhardy to expect the same level of professionalism from a waiter who might earn $3 an hour, with an expectation of tripling or quadrupling that from gratuities which they then find that they did not receive from a particular customer, and a doctor who earns hundreds of dollars for performing a single patient procedure. No doubt many servers do not actually mistreat the food of poor tipping customers, but a very significant number DO do this. Claiming otherwise is either naive or misleading in the extreme.
Just because someone earns a lower wage does not make them more morally bankrupt than someone earning a higher wage. If anything, those in lower paid jobs may be more fearful for their job security than, say, a doctor, and would do nothing to jeopardize their livelihood.
In thousands of hours serving / bar tending, I never once tampered with food or drink, despite earning quite a bit below current minimum wages. I also never saw anyone tamper with food deliberately because of customer attitude (poor handling not directed at a specific customer is another matter) much as we may have joked about wanting to do so (there was many a time I mentally pondered emptying the contents of the beer drip trays and squeezing out the bar cloths into a glass, but neither I nor anyone else I worked with, ever did. Well we did, but only as 'stag do hazing' for one of our managers!!! But he was fully aware!!!)
Besides which, you give far too much credit to an individual in a bar / restaurant. The servers will only remember outstandingly bad behaviour, leaving a low tip is pretty run of the mill, and chances are you are just another face, likely to be forgotten, especially if it is weeks / months between visits. Certainly only shocking stories are worthy of being shared among co-workers.