I waitress at a restaurant near several churches. My first table one day is fresh from church. They are about to pray when I walk up. Seeing this, I step back to let them finish. The wife waves me toward the table. I hold up a hand, indicating, “No, thanks.”

Wife: “We were going to pray. Join us.”

I don’t do the religion thing. I don’t mind if they do it around me, but I’m not comfortable joining in.

Me: “No, thank you. I’ll come back when you’re done.”

I go to leave.

Wife: “It’s okay! We won’t tell your boss!” *Laughs*

Me: “Boss? No, I’m just very busy. I’ll go refill some drinks and—”

Wife: *Interrupting me* “There is nothing more important than God.”

Me: “Okay. I’ll be back.”

Wife: “I am asking you to pray with my family. Are you really rejecting this one-of-a-kind offer?”

Me: “Thank you, but I have to politely decline.”

Husband: “Excuse me, what did you say?”

Me: “I am not comfortable doing that, so I am declining your offer. That is not to say you cannot do it yourselves. Please, take your time. I’ll go refill some drinks and be back. No rush.”

Husband: *Loudly* “I want the manager. I don’t want you waiting on us, either!”

Me: “Okay!”

I walk away quickly. I find the manager and explain the situation. The manager goes to the table and tells them it is not required for servers to pray with customers, and he will not force me to do it. If they want another server, they can have one.

Husband: “You’re just as bad as she is! All of you here working instead of going to church like you should be! It’s a shame! It’s disgusting!”

Manager: “Sir, which would you rather have? The rest of us sitting beside you in a pew, or here, serving you iced tea and chicken-fried steak? We can only do one.”

Husband: *Sputters* “Well, it’s not up to me.”

Manager: “A new server will be with you momentarily.”

Wife: “What about her?!”

She points to me. My manager walks away from the table without a reply. They get up and huff out.

The next Sunday, guess who is right back there again and in my section?

Wife: “We asked for you today because we’re going to pray for you while you work.”

I ignore the comment and take their drink order. I can hear them praying loudly, something about helping me find my way to Christ. The meal goes fine with no issues, but when they leave I see they left me a big fat zero in terms of a tip. Instead, they left me literature on their church.

The next weekend, they request me again. I talk to the server next to me and swap tables because I won’t serve them again. They stop me when I am walking by and question why I am not waiting on them when they asked for me specifically.

Me: “I figured after all the problems last time I waited on you, you’d for sure want another server.”

Wife: “Problems?”

They all look confused.

Me: “Yeah, I figured since you didn’t tip me, I did something wrong. I wouldn’t want to do that to you again!”

Then I turned and walked away. The husband was saying something to me and I totally ignored him. That was the last time I saw them. I think I offended them enough they refused to come back.

I’m a hostess at a local restaurant in my city.

Me: “Hello, y’all! How many are in your party?”

Customer: “We’ll have eight tonight.”

Me: “All right, that’ll be about forty to fifty minutes at the moment.”

Customer: “What?! We called an hour ago and the guy on the phone said it would only be thirty minutes!”

Me: “Yes, that was the wait at that time. It got much busier, though, so our wait time went up.”

Customer: “Fine, I’m putting my name down, but this is ridiculous.”

Ten minutes go by, and I’m calling and seating names that are ahead of this lady.

Customer: “We have been waiting for forever, and you’re calling names that aren’t ours! I want to talk to a manager!”

I get one of my managers, who’s a really chill guy.

Manager: “What’s the problem, ma’am?”

The lady complains to him, telling him that I was skipping over her name and lying to her. The manager looks at the waitlist and the info that I wrote down.

Manager: “Ma’am, you were here for ten minutes. There were other people before you. That’s how time works.”

The lady huffed and went back to her group but kept asking every five minutes how much longer they had to wait. When I sat them, everyone in the group made off-handed comments about the service, trying to rile me up. They ended up leaving a $5 tip on a $70 check.

I work at an upscale-ish restaurant. We have two floors. Because of the health crisis restrictions and whatnot, we only have hosts downstairs. When we are on a wait, the hosts will see when there are open tables upstairs, page the guests, and send them up. A server then greets them, sees where the host had pre-planned for them in our system, and we seat them.

Last night, I was serving upstairs. I am one of the top servers in my restaurant, consistently selling the most every week, and I’m a trainer. My managers all love and appreciate me and mostly have my back.

A family is paged that their table is ready. They walk upstairs and stand by the host stand while I finish at my table and make my way over to them.

Me: “Hey, guys! How’s it going?”

They just stare at me. Finally, the wife speaks up.

Wife: “Do we just seat ourselves?”

I’m holding a paper cocktail menu and silverware. I just walked over to them and I feel like I made it clear I was about to seat them.

Me: “Nope, that’s my job! You guys can follow me this way.”

They follow me to the six-top table and they all take their seats. I slide the silverware I’m holding down to everyone individually instead of just setting six silverware on the end of the table for them to hand out.

Me: “Our menu is all virtual right now; there’s a link on your table. I’ll be right back!”

When I come back, I ask if they have any questions or if they’d like to get some drinks started. Again, silence.

I just pick someone.

Me: “Okay, can I grab you something to drink, sir?”

Husband: “[Drink].”

Me: “I’m sorry, we don’t have that. Would you like [similar drink]?”

Husband: “That’s okay.”

Wife: “What beers do you have?”

Me: “We have a lot of beers! What do you like to drink?”

Wife: “I don’t know; that’s why I’m asking you what beer you have.”

Me: “We have twenty-seven beers on draft and nineteen in bottles, so if you tell me what you’re usually into, I can guide you through what will work for you.”

Wife: “Jesus Christ, I’ll just have a Bud Light since you can’t sell a beer.”

Stunned, I just laugh and say okay. Her husband turns his attention to me.

Husband: “Are you having a bad night?”

Me: “No, sir, are you?”

Husband: “No. We are just trying to have a nice family night and you’re rude. You’ve been rude the whole time and you threw our silverware at us.”

I’m stunned again.

Me: “I definitely did not throw it at you guys. I was trying to slide it down the table for all of you. I’m sorry if it came off that way. I’m not having a bad night, and I haven’t had an attitude.”

Wife: “It all started up front when you said, ‘THAT’S MY JOB!’ and now you’ve just been rude to all of us this whole experience. YOUR AURA IS F****** UGLY AND WE DON’T APPRECIATE THAT! JUST SEND US A NEW SERVER!”

It takes everything I have — EVERYTHING — not to say anything rude back to her.

Me: “I’m happy to grab you a new server, and I’ll just grab my manager for you, too, while I’m at it.”

My manager goes over, knowing everything from my side already.

Wife: “Your server was so rude when they seated us and made a comment about how we could not seat ourselves when there was no host at the stand, so we just assumed it was pick-your-own-table. They threw our silverware at us. Their attitude and aura are just plain ugly.”

My manager stuck up for me and said I’m actually one of their best, but they still insisted on another server. Imagine being one of the three other servers, having already heard and seen this go down, and now it’s your table. That server made a six-dollar tip on an eighty-dollar bill, by the way.

I make plans to go to a movie with a girl I met on a dating app. I pick her up because she doesn’t have money for gas and begin driving to the theater at the nearby mall.

Girl: “I’m really hungry; I haven’t eaten all day.”

I’ve had dinner already since it is a late movie and we didn’t plan to have dinner. But…

Me: “Okay, where do you want to go?”

We are right next to a few restaurants, the closest being a casual dining chain.

Me: “How about [Restaurant]?”

Girl: “Okay, sure.”

We get in and I look to order an appetizer for myself and tell her to get whatever she wants. She scoffs and starts laughing lightly. I ask her what’s funny.

Girl: “I can’t believe you took me to a [Restaurant] on our first date.”

Absolutely dead serious.

My blood instantly boiled. I sat there making small talk while she ate. I paid the bill and we got back in the car. I drive her home immediately and she was so confused as to why I cut the date short.

I am in a lovely family-owned restaurant we frequently visit. The restaurant is very good and it is almost impossible to get a table without a reservation. They’re just that good. The service and food are excellent and though it’s not snobbish, it has a nice setting. The owner himself greets you and gets you seated. If he’s not there his daughter and co-owner does the greeting. All regulars know this.

We are sitting near the entrance on a day the young woman greets the guests and we witness the following exchange.

A very snotty-looking young couple walks in, noses up, looking around for a table. The daughter greets them and asks for their reservation. The man looks down his nose at her.

Man: “We don’t need reservations. We are here all the time, and we know the owner. Just seat us already.”

The friendly face of the woman drops. She replies shortly.

Owner’s Daughter: “That’s a lie and you need to leave now.”

The man gets all flustered and puffed:

Man: “How dare y—”

She interrupts him harshly.

Owner’s Daughter: “I’m gonna stop you right now! I am the owner! The co-owner is my dad! One of us is always here and I’ve never seen you here before, nor have I ever heard my dad telling me of anybody just getting a table! Now, out! We don’t serve liars and cheapskates!

The man turned red as a tomato. The regulars around him listening in had started snickering at this point. He stormed out of the door. I really love it when such snobs get stopped right away.

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