The Stiffer Who Got Stiffed

The Stiffers. There's always a couple each shift. These are the people who leave a big fat zero for a tip. If a customer stiffs me once, it sucks, but it isn't the end of the world. If a customer stiffs me multiple times in a row or on a large tab, chances are the next time they approach my bar, I wont help them right away and when I do, the drink they order will be on the weak side.

Every time this one customer would come up to the bar, he would order one beer at a time. Each time he would order a beer, he would give me his credit card and have me close him out. On every round he ordered, he would only sign the slip and not leave me a tip. Talk about a pain in the ass. This guy was not only stiffing me, but having to run his card for one beer each time instead of running his card once at the end of the night was a bit time consuming.

By the fourth time the Stiffer approached the bar, last call had been announced. I knew that the Stiffer wanted another beer, but I also knew that he wasn't going to tip me. I had plenty of other customers to take care of so it was easy to make myself look busy and not get to the Stiffer right away.

When I finally did get around to helping the Stiffer, last call had come and gone and we weren't serving any more alcohol for the night. Whoops! When I explained to the Stiffer that I couldn't serve him a beer passed two (Hey, it's the law!), he told me that he had been waiting for someone to help him. That's when I smiled, looked him in the ye and told him, "Maybe you shouldn't have stiffed me three times. If you would have tipped, you might have been helped faster."

The Stiffer had nothing to say. He knew that I was right. Maybe next time he will reconsider stiffing a bartender multiple times a night.