Waiters' And Waitresses' Rant: Serving On Sundays After Church

[Positivist]

As an ex-fundy, I still can't bring myself to dine at a restaurant on Sunday.

 

As a fundy, I didn't go to restaurants on Sunday after church, because I didn't want to impose my need for leisure on someone else's (projected) need for a restful day at work. Furthermore, I was always embarrassed by my Christian compatriots and their poor restaurant behavior and bad tipping. The stories I continue to hear about how Christians (especially on Sunday after church) treat their servers appall me.

 

Any stories from the trenches? What was the worst Sunday serving experience you had? Let's hear your Waiter Rant about how churchgoers mistreated you on the Lord's day!

[Chikirin]

We would go on thursday nights after our Chi Alpha meetings, we made sure to tip well in order to be a good witness. But we were obnoxious in other ways however, like having them create a huge table to accommodate all 25 of us, and falling down on the floor slain in the spirit (no joke)

[buffettphan]

I have no personal experience, but I was at a local pancake house one weekday morning and overheard 3 of the waitstaff arguing over who HAD to wait on that "stupid cheap-ass christian businessmen's breakfast group." Apparently this group met every week and the waiters/waitresses took turns. They All Hated It!!!!

[JoeCoastie]

I worked tables for a summer. The after church crowd were pretty good with tipping.

[blackpudd1n]

We don't really tip over here. But then, our waiters and waitresses earn about $17.50 an hour. In Australia, tipping is more a way to thank the waiter/waitress for excellent service. Large groups tend to tip. A lot of places just have a tip jar on the counter, and put the coinage towards an end-of-year party, or even send it off in support of an area that has been affected by disaster, like a bush fire or major flood.

[Zephie]

We don't really tip over here. But then, our waiters and waitresses earn about $17.50 an hour. In Australia, tipping is more a way to thank the waiter/waitress for excellent service. Large groups tend to tip. A lot of places just have a tip jar on the counter, and put the coinage towards an end-of-year party, or even send it off in support of an area that has been affected by disaster, like a bush fire or major flood.

 

Wish our waiters/tresses over here got paid that much. They certainly deserve it with all of the B.S. they have to put up with.

 

I used to deliver pizza and it would piss me off to no end how rude Christian customers were. They didn't tip (hey it's my gas and that fucking delivery charge is not a tip!) and they were just generally asses-especially large church groups. It was sad to know that the druggies and drunks would tip more and better, plus they were nicer generally.

[Stamps1962]

I try to avoid fundies on Sundays after they've been to Church. I find they usually are full of nasty, self righteous pompous attitude. I stopped going my grocery shopping Sundays due to this. You can always tell the families who've been to church, all dressed up and the kids sort of clinging to the parents. One Sunday some folks like this were waiting in line at the checkout behind me while the cashier had to call over someone who could ring up a beer purchase. The man was staring a hole through me and I finally turned and asked him what the problem was; it was like he'd been in a trance, just mumbled sorry and looked away.

I grew up fundie. My dad used to embarrass the hell out of me in restaurants by saying grace loudly, as a 'testimony'.

[Guest wester]

Since the masters of the universe inaugurated our modern economic wunderland, I usually spend my Sundays working...because I have to....If I manage to have the day off Sunday or any day at all I will have to spend it curled in a catatonic ball so I can manage whatever bit of sanity possible to deal with another week of work. God bless capitalism and the 65+ hour work week. Even Satan could not have conjured such a demonic system of economy. If you read Frederick Douglass, you'll find that the slaves at his plantation actually got Sundays off...yes, we've come a long way, baby...

[BrotherJosh]

Girlfriend and I like to go to breakfast on Sundays, but we avoid the church crowd by going to restaurants that have early morning drink specials like Bloody Marys or Mimosas. Churchies avoid those den of inequities.

[Positivist]

Since the masters of the universe inaugurated our modern economic wunderland, I usually spend my Sundays working...because I have to....If I manage to have the day off Sunday or any day at all I will have to spend it curled in a catatonic ball so I can manage whatever bit of sanity possible to deal with another week of work. God bless capitalism and the 65+ hour work week. Even Satan could not have conjured such a demonic system of economy. If you read Frederick Douglass, you'll find that the slaves at his plantation actually got Sundays off...yes, we've come a long way, baby...

I hear you, wester. I worked shift work for years. Now, I don't work shift work but I work 60+ hours per week (paid for only 40 of those, of course). I have always felt frustrated by low end jobs that make people work Sundays, statutory holidays, or all night (to stock shelves), all for minimum wage. I wish there was a better way. Maybe there is?

[midniterider]

As an ex-fundy, I still can't bring myself to dine at a restaurant on Sunday.

 

As a fundy, I didn't go to restaurants on Sunday after church, because I didn't want to impose my need for leisure on someone else's (projected) need for a restful day at work. Furthermore, I was always embarrassed by my Christian compatriots and their poor restaurant behavior and bad tipping. The stories I continue to hear about how Christians (especially on Sunday after church) treat their servers appall me.

 

Any stories from the trenches? What was the worst Sunday serving experience you had? Let's hear your Waiter Rant about how churchgoers mistreated you on the Lord's day!

 

I believe the sabbath is really on saturday, though churchies argue that.

 

http://www.pacinst.com/nslaw/chapter1/sunday.html

http://www.gotquestions.org/Saturday-Sunday.html

 

What say, bible scholars?

[jblueep]

The xians I hung out with were generally good tippers and well behaved. I did notice though that for supposedly enlightened people, they often missed looking at the waiter as a real person and seeing the obvious struggles of their fellow human beings.

 

How hard is it to look every person in the eye, smile, call them by name, and be genuinely interested in their existence if even for a moment? Do that, and you can change the world (or at least make a waiter's day).

[blackpudd1n]

Since the masters of the universe inaugurated our modern economic wunderland, I usually spend my Sundays working...because I have to....If I manage to have the day off Sunday or any day at all I will have to spend it curled in a catatonic ball so I can manage whatever bit of sanity possible to deal with another week of work. God bless capitalism and the 65+ hour work week. Even Satan could not have conjured such a demonic system of economy. If you read Frederick Douglass, you'll find that the slaves at his plantation actually got Sundays off...yes, we've come a long way, baby...

I hear you, wester. I worked shift work for years. Now, I don't work shift work but I work 60+ hours per week (paid for only 40 of those, of course). I have always felt frustrated by low end jobs that make people work Sundays, statutory holidays, or all night (to stock shelves), all for minimum wage. I wish there was a better way. Maybe there is?

 

Generally, over here, people get paid time-and-a-half for every hour they work on a Sunday, or get paid higher for doing night-time work. If people have to work on a public holiday, of which we Aussies have quite a few, they get paid double-time. So it's not unusual for people to want to work Sundays or public holidays. When I used to work on a checkout, those who wanted the extra cash for working the Sundays or public holidays would just request the shifts. They rarely had to pu anyone on who didn't want to be on- they usually had to turn people down!

[TheBluegrassSkeptic]

Well, my Dad was "afflicted" with diabetes because of my Mom giving him shit over a tip after church one Sunday. He claims that her ribbing him for leaving such a large tip made him too embarassed to go to that restaurant, and the waitress happend to be a church member, so he was too embarassed to attend the church any longer as well (instead of just acting like an adult and straightening it out, right?).

 

Soooo, in reaction to the above scenarios, he became "lost" from God and the church, started playing Everquest and WoW, whilst sitting on his ass allllll dayyyy long, slurping his Pepsi and not getting any exercise. And developed diabetes.

 

All because of my Mom. Yeah.

 

Forget the key facts that he has been very bipolar with his relationship with God since before I was born some odd 35 years ago, AND his mother's side of the family is highly diabetic and die from complications of said development....

 

Mom. What a bitch, right?

[Vigile]

Girlfriend and I like to go to breakfast on Sundays, but we avoid the church crowd by going to restaurants that have early morning drink specials like Bloody Marys or Mimosas. Churchies avoid those den of inequities.

 

Yeah, I remember in Boise the church crowd flocked to the greasy spoons. Like their music, their food doesn't have a lot of imagination either.

 

I do miss those huge omelet and hash brown plates though from time to time.

[Vigile]

Since the masters of the universe inaugurated our modern economic wunderland, I usually spend my Sundays working...because I have to....If I manage to have the day off Sunday or any day at all I will have to spend it curled in a catatonic ball so I can manage whatever bit of sanity possible to deal with another week of work. God bless capitalism and the 65+ hour work week. Even Satan could not have conjured such a demonic system of economy. If you read Frederick Douglass, you'll find that the slaves at his plantation actually got Sundays off...yes, we've come a long way, baby...

I hear you, wester. I worked shift work for years. Now, I don't work shift work but I work 60+ hours per week (paid for only 40 of those, of course). I have always felt frustrated by low end jobs that make people work Sundays, statutory holidays, or all night (to stock shelves), all for minimum wage. I wish there was a better way. Maybe there is?

 

That's one thing I really appreciated about Italy when I lived there. I worked those shitty retail jobs for 9 years before I got a degree and moved on. In Italy, the government does not allow grocery stores to stay open past 7 and they must close on Wednesdays and Sundays (at least this was true while I lived there).

 

It's a good law that protects everyone and ensures a sense of community. People aren't going to buy less food, so the stores don't lose and because stores aren't forced to stay open longer to compete with their competitors, those who work in the stores get to live relatively normal lives just like their friends and family.

 

Restaurant workers were still shit out of luck though, but it's pretty hard to tell a country of food lovers you can't go out to eat past 7.

[Vigile]

I believe the sabbath is really on saturday, though churchies argue that.

 

http://www.pacinst.c...er1/sunday.html

http://www.gotquesti...day-Sunday.html

 

What say, bible scholars?

 

Saturday in Italian is Sabato, in Spanish, Sábado, and in Russian Cуббота (subbota). All translate to sabbath.

[Vigile]

Generally, over here, people get paid time-and-a-half for every hour they work on a Sunday, or get paid higher for doing night-time work. If people have to work on a public holiday, of which we Aussies have quite a few, they get paid double-time. So it's not unusual for people to want to work Sundays or public holidays.

 

That used to be true in the state I grew up in too, then the right to work bill was passed which destroyed the ebil unions and all that went away. My buddy still works the same job he and I started together 25 years ago and he makes just $2 an hour more than he and I made 25 years ago, despite the fact that inflation has more than halved his spending power since then and that he now has a wife and family to support. But hey, what's good for your boss's boss is good for you, right?

[Will02]

This reminds me of a blog post I saw one time (maybe it was linked to from this site, can't remember for sure) about some poor server who thought he/she got a huge tip ($20 or $50 laying on the table) but when the server got close the "tip" turned out to be a tract that was printed up to look like money. That's about as bad as it gets, much worse than no tip at all.

[Positivist]

... some poor server who thought he/she got a huge tip ($20 or $50 laying on the table) but when the server got close the "tip" turned out to be a tract that was printed up to look like money. That's about as bad as it gets, much worse than no tip at all.

That's horrible!! I hate it when fundies pull stunts like that.

[JoeCoastie]

This reminds me of a blog post I saw one time (maybe it was linked to from this site, can't remember for sure) about some poor server who thought he/she got a huge tip ($20 or $50 laying on the table) but when the server got close the "tip" turned out to be a tract that was printed up to look like money. That's about as bad as it gets, much worse than no tip at all.

There should be a Hell for people who create those funny money tracts.

[Deva]

... some poor server who thought he/she got a huge tip ($20 or $50 laying on the table) but when the server got close the "tip" turned out to be a tract that was printed up to look like money. That's about as bad as it gets, much worse than no tip at all.

That's horrible!! I hate it when fundies pull stunts like that.

 

I bet they get lots of tracts. My mother never fails to leave one, to my great embarrassment. At least I have never seen one that looked like money - that is particularly low.

[agnosticator]

What say, bible scholars?

 

I'm no scholar, but according to the N.T., Saturday was and is the Sabbath, while Sunday is the Lord's Day (the Resurrection). The church split over the issue, and the Paulinists eventually won out with their Lord's Day. The Roman Church officially adopted the Lord's Day and the Sabbath was considered "Jewish". At least that's how I recall it, IMO.

[lilcoppertop]

For the most part, the Christians I have knowingly served have been fine. Often not big tippers, but I work in a coffee shop so NOBODY generally tips much. I've been embarrassed, though, when out with Christians. I do not understand how people can talk all day about how "God is love" and then turn around and treat someone like dirt because their skin is brown or their eyes are a different shape or they don't know the answer to your question or they're gay or....well, any reason really.

[Casey]

This reminds me of a blog post I saw one time (maybe it was linked to from this site, can't remember for sure) about some poor server who thought he/she got a huge tip ($20 or $50 laying on the table) but when the server got close the "tip" turned out to be a tract that was printed up to look like money. That's about as bad as it gets, much worse than no tip at all.

 

In Australia they couldn't print tracts like that because it's illegal to use the same designs as are on our money for any sort of advertising or otherwise, unless you have specific permission to do so, which is very rarely given. It's true you can buy a watch with a coin as its face, but that's an old pre-decimal currency coin usually, such as a silver Florin.

 

Casey

 

PS Doesn't the US have laws against "Defacing the currency?" I'd have thought that if you copy the design of a US Dollar Bill of any denomination and print your own slogan on it, that would be considered as defacing it?