When A Waiter Gives You Free Food, Is It A Nice Gesture Or Is It Stealing?

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After going to a great Good Friday service at a local church near New Brunswick, we decided to go out for an evening meal with some of our friends. It was a lot of fun, and our party of 9 adults and 6 children made for quite the entourage!  Our waiter was very friendly, polite, and patient throughout our entire meal.

I asked to taste the broth (I was thinking a tea cup full) of matzah ball soup (having never had it) and he said he would just bring me the bowl of broth. I thought he was just being nice, since I wasn’t even sure I wanted it, and appreciated him not making a big deal about it.

After tasting the broth, and liking it, I asked him to bring me the actual matzah ball with the intention of paying for the dish. He then indicated that he wouldn’t charge me for the soup at all. At that point I leaned over and told my husband, “he must be fishing for a great tip!”

One of the people we were with then complimented the waiter on his service and he in turn said we should tell his manager since she doesn’t seem to think so. When I heard that, I really wondered if all his sucking up was indeed to get back into his manager’s good graces? I thought it was quite funny, and someone did mention it to his manager.

Not until the whole night was over did I discover that he had given out quite a few freebies that night: the kids all got ice cream, others got free cookies, and other odds and ends were missing from the bill! In all our table chatter, and parents’ keeping their children in check, I did not realize that he was busy charming each of us on his bosses’ dime!

Years ago I encountered something similar when the cashier of a bookstore would give me various discounts because she knew I was purchasing things for a good cause. Not until months later when I heard she had been fired for stealing did I realize the ramifications of her ‘good will’.

I know it may not seem like a big deal to some, but our characters are built on how we handle situations like this one. I definitely think it shows poor character that this server cost his employer money so that his tip could be better or his reputation improved.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”

When experiencing situations like this I often search my own heart, seeing the frailty of my own character, and praying for God’s help so that in my heart I will want to do what’s right – not just build some reputation that is untrue.

No one has the right to mishandle someone else’s resources, regardless of how small. I would like to think, if I realized what the waiter was doing the other day I would have insisted on paying for the additional items – but honestly, since I like getting things for free, I really don’t know.

photo by digitalart

Harold: A Picture Of Work Ethic And Integrity At Coldstone Creamery

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After a wonderful surprise dinner outing on Valentine’s Day, my husband let me choose dessert and I wanted something from Cold Stone Creamery.  Upon walking in, there was a lengthy line.  This is not too unusual for Cold Stone and so we joined while continuing to laugh and talk.  Upon further observance, there was only one person behind the counter. ONE PERSON! ALONE!

At this point, my heart sank a little, but I did not want that to ruin my evening.  Then, we were observing how meticulously (code word for ‘way too slow for me’) he was preparing the ice cream concoctions.

For the next 25 minutes, or so, we watched this employee listen to some really unique requests, prepare each person’s order, place each item in the freezer until the total order was complete, and change gloves at regular intervals (YES!!!!).  He did all this with perfect calm and diligence.

The only thing that had me ready to pull my hair out was that 1 person was ordering 3 or 4 different items, so when we thought we were getting closer; it was really just slow, painful torture!

When it was finally our turn to order, we could see better the extra care he was taking with the order.  He was more generous with some of the ingredients than others had been in the past, and he made sure the orders were well assembled and presentable.

Upon leaving we asked his name and thanked him for doing such a fine job under the circumstances.  As we walked out, we noticed the line was longer than when we joined it.

Khaleef here: I was very impressed with this Harold’s work ethic. He didn’t show any disappointment or frustration as he listened to people who had multiple orders, or even as more and more people came through the door.

When we asked him why he was working alone on the biggest date night of the year, he simply said that his coworker didn’t show up. That’s right, he was left to work a busy night by himself because his teammate decided not to go to work, and didn’t even call to tell anyone!

However, instead of using that as an opportunity to complain, he simply thanked us for our compliment about his hard work, and he moved on to the next customer. I’m sure that most of us would have been complaining to each customer about our (insert insult here) boss for not scheduling enough people, our coworker for not showing up, or even the previous customers who had multiple orders!

I can also imagine most people rushing through each order, and not taking the time to do the job properly.

I really hope someone in a position of authority at Coldstone Creamery sees this and rewards Harold for his hard work. Of course I won’t mention the exact location or number of the store in a post, but if a Coldstone GM wants to know, I’ll gladly tell them via email.

Contentment

Watching Harold work under undesirable conditions reminded me even more about our need to be content with what we have and where we are. Anything less is a slap in the face to a sovereign God!

Here are a few articles that I (and others) have written about this subject:

photo by Yu’s Story

Your Turn

  1. Have you ever been extremely impressed by the way someone works? Especially if the position pays close to minimum wage.
  2. How do you motivate yourself to work as hard as you can, even when it feels like you’re not appreciated?
  3. Are you ever tempted to give a weak effort at work?