It was a busy Wednesday lunch shift. Convention attendants filled the restaurant
on their brief hour and a half break. I
was working in fifth gear, in my flow, feeling proud of my impeccable multi-tasking
abilities and generally feeling great.
When I went to grab the check from my largest party of the
day (three times as much as any of the others) I realized the credit card slip
was missing. Only the itemized copy was
there. My heart sank. This was a table of 5 convention men who were
friendly, ordered a lot of food and beverage and were more than pleasant to
wait on. My gut told me there’s no way
they meant to stiff me.
I swiftly bolted around the table to see if I could find the
signed receipt lying somewhere in the vicinity.
It was a breezy afternoon and it was entirely possible for it to have
simply blown away. I spotted a white
piece of paper next to the stone-lined boardwalk about 30 feet away. I briskly walked over to it. Damn. A chopstick wrapper.
Defeated, I walked back into my section as I continued to be
sat new tables. As I greeted the new guests, I couldn’t focus. I was completely distraught. All I could think about was that missing
credit card slip. Even as I took orders,
I continued to look around to see if I could find another white piece of paper
anywhere.
It’s amazing how one snafu in your day can begin to screw up
your focus and your flow for the remainder of your shift.
I had a thought. Did
that table have a reservation? It was,
after all, a party of five. I asked the
host. She checked the computer. It was. I jumped a little and almost screamed from
excitement. That means there was a
phone number I could call. We looked up
the name and it wasn’t the name of the person who paid (I didn’t remember his
name exactly but I knew it wasn’t the name on the reservation).
I decided to call anyway, although I was a bit nervous. I got his voicemail. Screw it. If I’m going this far, I might as well leave
a message. The worst that could happen is I don’t get a call back and I don’t
get a tip (which was the case at that point anyway). I left a voicemail asking him to contact the
man who paid and ask about the slip’s whereabouts. It was an awkward voicemail to say the
least.
However, at that point, I felt better. At least I could say I tried and did all I
could to get that tip back, regardless of the outcome. I continued to wait tables and go on with my
day, although still a bit distressed.
About a solid forty-five minutes later, as I was talking to
a guest I saw the host staring at me and waving me over. I quickly finished my conversation at the
table and walked over to her. She said,
“You’re guy called back and he’s on hold.”
My mouth dropped. Will this be good or bad news? I took a deep breath and picked up the
phone.
The guy said he talked to his friend who paid and he
accidently took both credit card slips.
He tipped me (close to $100) and said he was very sorry about the mix
up. I waved my manager over so he could
confirm the amount with her. I thanked
him several more times again and told him how much he truly made my day.
Wow. There are still good people out there. Lord knows as servers, many days we aren’t so
sure. But when a situation like this occurs,
I’m reassured I can still have faith in humanity.
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