Unfiltered Story #208814

My wife and I have just finished a pleasant meal out and the server, a young woman probably in her late teens, was great – friendly, prompt on refills, etc. As such, I felt particularly bad when the following happened.

*Server walks up and reaches for my clearly empty plate*
Server: “Can I take this from you?”
Me: (attempting to be funny) “No, it’s mine!”

Apparently I said it a bit too authentically mean-sounding, as she got a look of shocked hurt on her face and started tearing up. I quickly apologized profusely but I still feel horrible about it. She had been nothing but wonderful and I came off as a really nasty customer. I made sure to leave a nice tip, at least.