The Tweens

Almost every shift there will be a table of unaccompanied minors dropped off by Mom's SUV. I'm guessing Mom wants to go get her nails or hair done in peace and quiet while I deal with her tween age children and their friends. What Mom didn't do was drop these kids off with proper math skills and dining etiquette worthy of them being unsupervised. And so the race to see who can drink the most root beer the quickest (I mean this literally. They challenge each other to who can obnoxiously consume the most soda). They order according to how much their Mom left them with for food... but don't calculate having enough for tax (which is usually the portion of the bill left in coin change) much less account for or calculate leaving a tip. I work in a nice, upscale restaurant in a very good part of town. This is not Incredible Pizza or Chuck-E-Cheese and I am not a free babysitter.

So Mom comes back in the SUV with fresh hair and nails. Picks up the tweens without so much as a care or concern for how they behaved or if they tipped. This is my job. This is how I feed myself, shelter myself, keep running lights and water on. I am not paid by the restaurant except 2 dollars an hour that is only used to make sure that the government can tax me on my tips. My tables are the only people who pay me to work and it's not a joke. You work... you get paid. Not to mention I have to tip out other employees (Hostesses, bussers and bartenders) out of my tips. So when you drop me off 5 tweens that ate 50-60 dollars worth of food, paid the bill partly in change and left me nada then I had to actually pay to wait on your kids. I appreciate that, and judging by your great parental discretion I bet your kids will grow up to be healthy well adjusted adults.

Lesson # 3: Underage diners should either A: Be Accompanied by An Adult or B: Dropped of with a knowledge of how to calculate percents and proper dining etiquette