TIFU by missing out on serving up a valuable lesson.

Submitted by Accomplished-Trust11 t3_zpnag4 in tifu

This happened several years ago. We let Madge, an old college friend, come visit. The woman always had issues. More than half a bubble off of plumb. We treated her to lots of touristy activities and nice dining. At the end of her stay, she offered to buy us lunch. We went to a popular and locally owned place called CheeseBurgers In Paradise.

After we ate, Madge had the bill and she was at the counter trying to decide on which souvenirs to purchase. So, she told us to wait downstairs for her. She showed up with her goodies and we walked in the general direction of the car.

A few minutes later, she mentioned that we got lucky with our meal. How so? Well, they forgot to charge us.

Wait. What?

You guessed it. She pulled a dine & dash on us.

We walked to the car. We got in and I drove back to CheeseBurgers In Paradise. Madge kept asking what I was doing but I wouldn't answer. The universe provided me with a street parking spot near the restaurant and I went in.

I was so embarrassed to have to describe my problem to the cashier, who did his best to explain that maybe the check had been misplaced. No, not a mistake. Our server walked by, dropped our bill on the counter and went into the kitchen. She looked pissed and was gone before I could say anything to her. There was good reason for her to be upset because I had heard that they have to cover tabs left by deadbeats.

But, not on my watch. I paid the bill and added a large tip. I think it helped square things, karma-wise.

Anyway, my fuck up was that I should have asked our server to come out to the car and loudly explain to Madge how she would be impacted by this crime. It would have put our thief in her place and our server might have gotten some satisfaction.

What I did do was explain to Madge that by screwing our server, she screwed us over. The next day, we took her to the airport and said Aloha (which means goodbye).

BTW, I'm totally certain that this wasn't the first time Madge had pulled this shit.

TL;DR our friend screwed us and I could have done more to make it right.

EDIT: corrected the restaurant name to CHEESEburgers In Paradise.

22

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Letifer_Umbra t1_j0u7yxt wrote

The whole idea of a server having to cover the bill of a dine and dash is criminal. Not figuratively, but literally. It is by law forbidden.

24

kmz57 t1_j0u52sx wrote

First time I've heard the bubble off of plumb,I liked that. Guess some folks don't get that what she did is stealing, and made you comlicit in a crime. Its good to see a truely jonest person.

7

Accomplished-Trust11 OP t1_j0uvjwp wrote

Thanks. As we walked to the car, I was worried that the cops would arrive and arrest all of us.

2

ThadisJones t1_j0v0xsg wrote

>my fuck up was that I should have asked our server to come out to the car and loudly explain to Madge how she would be impacted

The server probably cares way more about getting the bill paid plus tip than about getting a chance to lecture Madge.

And Madge won't learn a god damn thing anyway. Maybe just ghost her.

2

Accomplished-Trust11 OP t1_j0v2t1a wrote

You may be right, but the server may have taken the opportunity to vent after being screwed over multiple times while doing her job.

We did ghost her.

0

couchthievery t1_j0w98d8 wrote

idk man. You sound like a parent who wants to get the police to lecture their kid for them. I don't see why the server would have wanted to do that for you.

2

Accomplished-Trust11 OP t1_j0wvg1z wrote

We were okay with telling her off. And we ghosted her, too. I wouldn't ask the server to do that for me. Only if she wanted to scream at the person who ripped her off. As I said, she looked pissed at me, probably thinking I was knowingly involved in the crime. And, yeah, maybe it would have helped to scare her straight. Maybe not. But, she would have been embarrassed as hell.

2