Recently I went to Village Inn. Wednesday, pie night. That coupled with a tough workweek made the offering more than welcome. It was the first time I had been, and the food was quite good, and the service was OK. Not horrible, but I had long finished my huevos rancheros and watched as the server passed by several times, waiting for that pie. Time dwindled, and it came closer to time to leave, and I began honestly wondering if I would get my free slice of pie before I left. Ultimately, though, she made it in time.
The place was medium busy; enough so that I didn't expect her to wait on me hand and foot, but light enough that the wait time was not really good, but merely ok, service.
In the past, I would have offered a reduced tip. In the case of really bad service, I used to believe in the penny tip. Simply put, I have abandoned that.
There are arguments for it, and I certainly wouldn't argue against anyone who feels differently, but for me, my Christian faith commands my lifestyle. And "Love your neighbor as yourself" certainly sits at the top of the list of things to do.
And again, that means different things to different people, but to me it means that unless the server is outright rude, I need to respond to them in a positive way. They certainly don't owe me an explanation if their car broke down on the way in, if their cat is in labor, or if they just got stiffed by a previous patron. It is simply not my business, and not their business to share.
And so I left a pretty good tip. Honestly, in the grand scheme of things, if I didn't get that pie I didn't need it anyway. But what I DID need was to leave knowing that I had treated someone proper rather than letting my personal gripes drive my tipping.
