Posted by Hemant Mehta in Not that you need another reason to dislike religion… this one comes from a pastor, Thomas Steagald.
His daughter is a server at Chili’s.
She was working last Sunday when some church-goers came in and… well, let the pastor tell the story:
A group of six church-goers came in last night after their evening services and sat down, not in her area but in another server’s. When the girl came to greet them and take their drink order, one of them said, “We want to tell you up front that we will not be tipping you tonight because…”
Are you ready?
“…we do not believe in people working on Sunday.”
The girl was taken full-aback, stammered out something that sounded like “I wouldn’t have to work on Sunday if so many church people didn’t come in,” or some such. She was furious. So was the manager of the restaurant whom she summoned to deal with them. I think he should have tossed the people out on their…uh…Bibles. To his credit, and demonstrating something like agape all around, he did say to them, “Well, we don’t believe in making our people work for nothing, so I will be serving you tonight.” And he did. God bless him.
Wow. How’s that for compassion and empathy. Going to a restaurant where you need a server and then refusing to tip the person who is going to serve you.
This must mean Jesus was a bad tipper.
I take it based on these Christians’ actions that their church’s pastor doesn’t get paid for his Sunday services then…?
(via Prayer Pilgrimage)
Surprising only that they said anything ahead of time instead of just writing “bless you” on the receipt and stiffing the server.
Google CHRISTIAN TIPPERS for a long list of rants. The belly punch is the tract that looks like a $20 bill.
“Not that you need another reason to dislike religion…”
Christianity is not the barometer of all religious behavior. Nor is Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, or Wicca.
Thanks for posting this. It made me think about how religious pretenders will stand before God on Judgment Day, right next to those deny Him.
BTW: Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday will be coming up Feb 12. Will you be celebrating?
Oh puuuhhlease…
I’ve seen these kind of christians before (in fact I am related to a few…), and one of the things that I ‘ve noticed is that they ALSO don’t tip on the other days of the week, or like some in my close family leave a “standard” tip of $2 on ANY check.
Sunday just gives them an excuse to be dicks.
They are just cheap. I think it’s a side-effect of the “Prosperity Christianity” that has become popular since Oral Roberts and his ilk have been around.
That was incredibly rude of them and completely illogical. If they don’t think people should be working on Sundays, then they should not work themselves and not buy or sell.
However, it is also not logical to make assumptions about Jesus, based on the actions of falible human beings who aren’t following Jesus’ words, regardless of what they call themselves.
Um, if they take issue with people working on Sunday, than what the Flying Spaghetti Monster are they going out to dinner for in the first place? If no one went out shopping/eating on Sunday, then no one would have to work. Seems like they are just as “guilty” as those who have to work on Sunday.
James, are you referring to the day that the Skynet computer system goes rogue, or the World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view thing?
Cause I have to tell you, that wrestling shit is fake.
The Terminator? That shit is real. Trust me on this. I’m from the future.
If I heard that, I would have been sitting there agape myself.
Been there done that, as a Christian(waited tables, not withheld a tip). It’s a sad state when those who have just given their “tithe”(or not, in many cases) withhold wages from those who deserve them.
This is not love, and it is just an excuse to be cheap. God forgive us for taking advantage of people just because we can.
Oh, painfull memories.
When I was 16, the local preacher actually supported this hypocritical act (likely greatly increasing his saliva/food ratio in restaurants), eventually nearly everyone skipped the tip on sunday.
At some point, you really can’t give them worse service, so what was the solution? The restaurant owner simply added a “voluntary” 10% tip to the bill for sunday brunch. Nobody ever complained about it.
Problem solved.
alcari: Assuming servers are reasonably free to choose their own schedules (if not, they should first unionize and gain the right), that would lead to a situation in which workers would refuse to work on Sunday, in turn creating a labor shortage forcing the owner to either raise wages for working on Sundays or close the restaurant on Sundays. The increased wages would take care of lost tips from the servers perspective and might even still be profitable from the owner’s perspective due to the increased business from church groups. If not, one option is (s)he’d just close the business on Sundays and the church-types would get what they supposedly wanted in the first place. The “voluntary” tip no doubt was imposed to prevent the necessity of option 2.
I imagine that they realize that servers receiving that will be horribly disappointed to realize that it’s actually Christian propaganda. But it does raise an interesting question–which would you rather have: Christianity, or 20$. If phrased that way, I think the number of Christians in the U.S. would drop substantially.
I am confused – isn’t patronizing the establishment promoting sin? Also since when is Sunday (the first day of the week) the Sabbath (the seventh day)?
I am sure you can guess what I think these Xians should eat.
As you said, this story came from *christian* blog (from a pastor no less). And all of the responses on that story (from other christians) unanimously agree that these so-called christian patrons were out of line.
Not all christians believe this behavior is acceptable (by all accounts, hardly *any* christians think it’s accepable).
I suppose if a Russian came in and said he wasn’t going to tip that would mean all Russians wouldnt and that we should look down on them. Or maybe all blacks are criminals because I got mugged by one. You are an idiot.
Mooo. If they paid the bill, they paid the cook’s wages. Maybe they want the cook to go to hell. Or, they probably just spent all their designated tip-money at the church.
Of course Jesus was a bad tipper: he was jewish, after all.
I definitely never encountered a semi-boycott like this, but our church definitely had that weird disconnect, both discouraging working on Sundays (and frowning, to some degree, upon businesses that were open) yet frequenting restaurants for Sunday breakfast, brunch or dinner. It was a big treat for our teen Sunday School class to go out for breakfast and hot chocolate at a local restaurant during the winter months.
Sunday is not even the sabbath. Emperor Constantine changed it so it would coincide with the Roman day of rest (dies Solis). Once again the Christians allow their so called “values” to transcend their humanity.
Also: I googled “Christian tipping” as suggested, and I had absolutely no idea what a ubiquitous standard this is! I do know that my husband, when delivering pizzas, used to occasionally get those awful tracts that *look* like $20 bills – instead of an actual tip.
A few posters on one blog I read suggested that if, as a Christian, you feel compelled to leave a tract with your tip, you should tip waaayyyy more than you would normally and put the tract at the bottom. Makes a lot of sense to me.
I have to go with the christians on this one, because of a recent similar experience. It was a sunday afternoon and I had to tell this woman that I happened to be a christian and because I didn’t believe in prostitution so I wouldn’t be paying for the blowjob. I can’t believe that my being a christian could make her so mad…oh well.
Please give me a break. These people area just cheap dicks. You can take anything and blow it out. This has NOTHING to do with Christians and everything to do with people who are ignorant, and stupid.
Jesus’ was quizzed about the depths to which he would observe this rule. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
he had this to say.
“If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
You can take any rule to a ridiculous extreme. If you treat work as W=f*d (Work = force * distance) then moving your bowels or breathing is work.
I love God, I respect Jesus and his teachings and believe he is my lord and savior. I still tip on Sunday.
Wow, this is first-class asshattery. I’ve never heard of anyone acting like this, religious or not. Mormons also don’t believe in working on Sunday, but guess what? They generally try not to shop or spend money on Sundays, so they don’t contribute to the demand for Sunday workers. That’s putting your money where your mouth is. I just can’t comprehend the arrogance and hypocrisy of these Sunday non-tipping Christians. It makes me angrier the more I think about it.
I guess Christians have no sense of irony …
The twisted depths of Christian hypocrisy never ceases to amaze me.
@Miko
The moment you even whisper the word “union” to a co-worker is the moment they fire your ass and replace you with one of the hundreds of thousands of people looking for work. You cannot even try to unionize jobs like this. I work in a perkins. I get shat on every shift by my bosses and by the customers, but there is almost nothing I can do other than find a new job, something I’ve been trying to do for over a year and still haven’t gotten so much as an interview.
Learn how things work in the real world.
This is not unusual at all. Why should it be? If they were reasonable people they wouldn’t be religious fundamentalists.
So check please visit http://www.tipstolive.com. People who don’t tip shouldn’t go out to eat. The fact of the matter is, servers do not work in food service for fun. The argument that servers receive a pay check is a joke. We are taxed on the tips we receive from our tables, so at the end of the week we receive pay checks as low as $0.00. The average check people get is around $20.00 – $30.00 for the week. Oh and I almost forgot to give you the short and ugly version of our favorite “Christian” guests. These guests would only leave one thing as a tip…. a miniature bible.
So how are these Christians keeping Sunday holy by eating out, and not giving money to the working poor?
Why should anyone have to tip anyway? That’s like paying someone’s wages twice.
Seriously, do you tip people at McDonalds or other fast food place?
Do you tip the mailman?
Do you tip your children’s teachers?
I’ll follow the example and not tip the pastor at church. I would tithe, but the pastor was working on Sunday, so no tip for him!
Working on the sabbath is a STONEABLE offence. God wants you to kill them…..
GOD demands that you KILL them!
For working on Sunday…and I’m the crazy one because I’m an atheist.
Harry,
A lot of servers get paid less than minimum wage, because the tip is assumed. I know I did when I was a waitress. On the other hand, when I worked in fastfood, I got paid minimum wage.
Self-righteous little hypocrites, aren’t they?
Um… I remember handing out bible tracts as “tips” when I was a Christian. I am so ashamed.
@KJ (way above)
People like you give me a new respect for Christians. I happen to live in a state that has a lot of evangelicals, and the hypocrisy around me has created a form of hatred within me.
The Evangelicals act like they can do no wrong, and they suggest that because they are “of God” they can do anything they want.
Hearing sensible Christians like you helps me reconsider your value to society.
I’m a “no comment, non-violent” atheist, and posts like yours make me want to stand down from my anger toward [Evangelical] Christians.
I will respect your religion, if you act as your religion suggests, and if you will respect my lack of interest in it.
Kind regards,
Chris B
Mean, selfish & evil people have always used religion to justify their sociopathy.
The recent study that people self reporting as the most religious are the most likely to steal a newspaper from a ‘broken’ newsbox is a perfect example.
Then you have the classic studies where they paid actors to call out for help to people on saturday & sunday while others followed them with hidden cameras going into their temples and churchs. Guess who doesn’t help people?
@ Miko-
Yeah I work at a Perkins too, and the idea that you could choose your own schedule
is a joke. If you tell a restaurant you can’t work the shift they want you to, they don’t try to make room for you somewhere else, they just cut your hours.
The restaurant staff should have told the nasty Christians, “If you’re so opposed to people working on Sundays then we’ll avoid offending your sensibilities. We won’t serve you. Now go home and make your own food.”
That should teach them to not rip off hard-working people and use their Bible as an excuse.
My last post was a little disjointed but the point is in there somewhere. to Zar and Darwin’s Daggar I say, please recognize that this is not “Christian” hypocrisy. Christians to not have a corner on hypocrisy. It is simply hypocrisy. It doesn’t make it special that a so called Christian was doing something hypocritical. What these people did and presumably continue to do is misguided, wrong headed and frankly cruel.
On the flip side, tipping, while customary is optional.
Dang! Back when I was a christian, I’d leave double the suggested tip and a religious tract. The idea being that such generosity might warrant a look at what had made me that way (christianity).
Maybe that was just one more thing that made me not a good christian.
Alright, let’s take the worst of example of a Christian. I’m not even sure these people are Christians. Could they just be faking? Perhaps they just think they’re Christians because they say they are. It doesn’t really work that way. They should remember you have to “practice” your religion because in all likely hood you’re probably extremely bad at it. These people need a lot of practice.
But yes! Let’s take the worst example you can possibly find and hold it up like that’s how every single Christian is. Yeah, why not? Next time I get robbed by a black guy it’s just proof that all black guys must be thugs and robbers right? Or what about the next time some idiot Atheist trips me because I’m a Christian? Guess everyone isn’t a “Friendly Atheist” anymore are you? Guess you must all be Christian trippers? Give me a break. It doesn’t work like that.
These people were just regular old rude morons. It has nothing to do with religion.
TheDeadEye – excellent point except these people do not employ reason whatsoever.
Tipping is not customary it is social law, like watiing in line (patiently) and not talking on your cell phone in an eatery.
Cheap Hypocrites:
“We want to tell you up front that we will not be tipping you tonight because we do not believe in people working on Sunday.”
Response:
“I want to tell you up front that I will be adding 20% to your bill tonight because I do not like working on Sunday.”
When I was a server my co-workers always clamored to switch their Sunday shifts. No one wanted to work on Sunday for this exact reason. The church goers didn’t try to pretend those Bible tracts were anything close to currency. They sometimes would literally put it in my hand with a patronizing “We really think you should have this.” It takes a lot of self restraint and patience to keep quiet in moments like this. Hey, guess what? Jesus doesn’t pay my bills!
VERY AWESOME RESPONSE from the manager. Every time he came to their table, he silently made his point. I hope they got it.
“On the flip side, tipping, while customary is optional.”
In the same sense that bathing, while customary, is optional. You’re still an asshole if you don’t do it.
Well, I think if they are going out to eat on a Sunday, they are just as guilty as she is. They are nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites. They are like most Christians, only take the parts of the Bible they like seriously, and vehemently reject the parts that they don’t like, or would otherwise get in the way of their oh so sinful life.
Hypocrites. Isn’t that some kind of sin?
Only bad people tip badly. Once you work for tips and live off of them, you come to this understanding. I now, always have and always will tip whenever possible as much as I can. I leave tips at buffet restaurants I like. I leave dollars at Starbucks. Whenever I have it to give, I give it. I usually tip about 20% of the tab. I am a monetarily poor, but spiritually rich person.
Just concider all the pople god wants us to kill (refrences included, can be very useful in an argment):
Exodus 35:2
For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death.
Deut 21:18-21. It says:
If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place. They shall say to the elders of his town, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death. So you shall purge the evil from your midst; and all Israel will hear, and be afraid.
Leviticus 20:13:
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.
So if you see me bashing the workers in wal-marts heads in with a rock you’ll know I’m not a maniac I’m just doing what God told me to. (don’t worry I wont do it on sundays)
Yet another reason to loathe Organized religion an its’ followers, especially Christians. Hypocrisy is everywhere….I just cannot believe the madness of the sheep.
many religious people are judgmental hypocrites. i do whats right because i have a healthy sense of right and wrong and wish to live in a civilized world. not because im afraid of punishment from a man in the sky. some religious types have a hard time understanding how that’s possible.
As a Christian, (and i’m sure you’ve had this complaint a thousand times… if not i’ve lost all faith in humanity) i am appalled at this kind of behavior. ANY christian who would treat another human being this way has apparently skipped the majority of the red letters.
Frauds and hypocrites, like most people who will introduce themselves as Christians. Luke and Paul both say, “The worker is worthy of his wage”, so if you’re going to accept the service, you ought to pay for it – a law that is more important that resting on the Sabbath (for if these people were really interested in resting on the Sabbath, they would not force their waitstaff to “sin” by serving them). Their own scripture accuses them: “By their fruits shall you know them”, and “A good tree does not bring forth bad fruit.”
@Harry – if you’re arguing that servers should be paid enough that tipping isn’t necessary, hell yes. But in the current world, their minimum wage is half that of other workers BECAUSE they are to be tipped – and they’re taxed on their tips whether they actually got any or not.
It’s bizarre, but the customer is expected to help pay the waiter’s salary. That’s the way it is.
That’s awesome, I would have taken it one step further, i would have taken their orders then let them sit there, until they flagged someone down (who surely would have told the rest of the staff their intentions) and then had whoever staff they got, to reply “sorry, we don’t believe in people working on Sunday either. why did you come out to eat on a Sunday if you didn’t want people working on Sunday? Trying to take advantage of the heathens?”
I’m a christian and I would never consider not giving a tip Sunday, Saturday, or any other day! Unless the service sucked, but you know. Oh, and I wouldn’t give a freakin tract either. As a matter of fact I’d probably give her MORE of a tip because of that whole do unto others thing Jesus said.
Well, seeing as I am a Christian, I can see why they chose not to tip. The Bible says we must observe the Sabbath day. We work for 6 days and rest on the 7th, which is Sunday. But my question is, if they were insisting on not tipping them, then why did they go there to eat if they didn’t want people working on Sunday? I certainly don’t go out and eat on Sundays. I go to church, and then I go home. I eat with my family.
But still, they should have gave them something.
@icandothat (and MS)
Sorry, but this time it absolutely is. When they refuse to tip because their version of Christianity says people shouldn’t work on a Sunday, then yes, this is specifically and definitely Christian hypocrisy. Without their Christian beliefs, this particular instance of hypocrisy would not have been possible.
Nice Article.
I’m sick to death of hearing that non believers will burn in hell or suffer the wrath of God.. whatever, come judgement day. If god ever did turn out to be real, well isn’t he supposed to be all forgiving? Like, “forgive me for i have sinned, i stole a bike and a feel really bad about” $5 in the poor box, a couple of prayers and it’s all good.After all he made me an Atheist and who am I to change his will?
I feel bad that there are some christians that give eachother bad names. I know a lot of hypocritical people, christians and atheists. we all don’t make it as obvious as these people did but I don’t think that is what their jesus would have really done in that situation. those people need to tip to people even if it is on sunday. good for them for not working on a sunday, just don’t condemn other people. it’s not their job in their christian religeon either.
Just another excuse for being cheap.
we cannot judge all theologies based on this one account. I’m sure there are others, but one theology cannot demand acceptance if they do not accept others’.
if i got a tract that looked like a 20 dollar bill i would walk out to the costomers i recieved it from and burn it in front of them. i DO NOT need someone to advertize their religion to me. i do not care if people believe in a religion…all i want is for them to not care that i DONT believe in a religion.
-and i fully relize that this article only applies to a small percentage of christians. too bad it doesnt apply to 0 percent of them
I didn’t know Mr. Pink was Christian…
My room mate posted this link, and geez, no wonder Christians have such a bad name. I try to follow Jesus, but I am very rarely willing to give myself the title of Christian b/c of people like this…
I knew that Jesus Fellow looked shifty!
MS, the point is that if a black guy robs you, says he did it because he is black, and tells you it’s for your own good, then there would be an equivalence. this is religious hypocracy because they say that they’re only being asshats because of their religion. you may say that they’re naturally douches, but is the argument not meant to be that christianity makes you a better person, rather than enabling your natural f**kwittery? also you’d think that one of these days during bible study one of them might have a go at reading the damn thing…
Wow. I mean… just… wow. What a typical Christian attitude. Pick and choose from the bible to suit your own best interests. I think my response would have been, “Well, I don’t want you to be responsible for causing me to sin, so I won’t be serving you today.” Then just leave them sitting there. Douche bags. And I’m _so_ sick of hearing, “Oh, but not all Christians are like that!”. Bullshit. They’re all just insecure little whiners who can’t face the fact that they’re responsible for their own choices and actions, and that if bad shit happens to them, it’s not because they’re being punished by “god” or attacked by “satan”. It’s either because they’re idiots, someone _else_ is an idiot, or because “shit just happens” sometimes. Grow a backbone, hitch up your pants, and deal with reality. Take all those gobs and gobs of money you use to build your big, showy churches and open a soup kitchen or build a homeless shelter or something _useful_. Stop blowing off your responsibility to your fellow man, get off your self-righteous ass, and _do_ something. I sponsor four children in foreign countries, donate to the animal shelter, take care of stray animals, use and encourage the use of green power systems, buy from local businesses whenever possible, and mentor young people. Stop being a “Christian” and start being a _human_being_.
And once again, religion becomes a convenient excuse for people to act like dicks.
Jeff, this does not apply to only a small percentage of X-tians. I worked as a server a few years back, and tips on Sundays were uniformly bad if the table had on their Sunday best.
xdesx Says:
Any HUMAN who would treat another human being like this is a jerk.
Waiters get stiffed all too often; usually they just assume the patrons were jerks. This story is interesting only in that the patrons announced ahead of time that they were jerks and expected the server to respect them for that. That’s a special kind of arrogance that only religion can inspire.
To all the people saying that we shouldn’t judge Christians because of this, that this has nothing to do with Christianity, not all Christians are like that and so on…
I don’t think people here judge all Christians because of things like this. But we see A LOT of stuff like this, either motivated or excused by religious beliefs. The Christians who don’t do stupid stuff like this (and the much worse stuff, like refusing medical care for your children because of biblical teachings) are good people. People who don’t let their religion govern them into acting like asses deserve respect. People like this don’t deserve any though.
And, yes, I’m sure that these people are just cheap. But in religion they find a convenient excuse to not only be cheap, but be an ass about it. This is a common thing, and it probably even makes them feel perfectly right and righteous about their assery.
We think that it is right to complain about things like that. We don’t think that religious belief should give people a free pass to act badly.
But whenever someone mentions a story like this there are a ton of people who scream “You can’t say that; you can’t complain about that, not everyone is like that, so stop it!”
We don’t “attack” all Christians. We attack the stupid things religious people do because of their religion, or excuse with their religion. When you say we that we can’t talk about those things being bad, you are just defending them and their ways.
For people to have any respect for religious people we must all act together to make them stop acting like total asses because of their beliefs.
That is ridiculous, one of the main stresses that the biblical Jesus had was on charity towards the poor, and waiters are some of the poorest and most unappreciated people in the world.
Absolutely stunning.
However, it does show the trend among evangelicals: more or less ignoring the new testament, the one that Christianity was founded on, and focusing on the hellfire and brimstone of the old.
I have served for 3 years now and feel as though I need to impress the importance of tips to a server and what a big deal this is.
Servers aren’t paid minimum wage, they are paid a mere fraction of it. in some places I worked I quite literally received $2/hour. Additionally, they are required by law to declare all tips, so out of that ten dollars a day we make, we usually pay all of it back in taxes.(while they can sometimes lie, most people pay with credit card, there is no way to lie on credit.)
Also, if you are at a restaurant, the server will often have to tip out the bartender, bussers, hosts, food runners, expo, or any combination of positions.
This tipout is usually based on sales, not actual tips received. As a result, be aware that a significant portion of your server’s tip is going to other people (usually averaging 3% of your total bill).
Example:
lets assume a $48.50 bill at the end of the meal, a decent tip would be $10, that’s what is expected for a good job(approx. 20%). -$3 for tipout means only 7 on the entire table. Combined with the fact that most people round down and actually tip something like $8. that leaves you with only $5 in your pocket for the entire table.
now combine that with the fact that our economy is so bad that many servers are sometimes only get something like 5 tables a night(depends on the day of the week), and ask yourself how the fuck you would live with that. working your ass of being subservient to people all night for something like $30? its maddening.
tip your servers well, based on PERFORMANCE not on how much you like the person. otherwise were all going to flip someday.
(these are low estimates, in a more expensive city, everything is doubled but is proportionally equivalent.)
What – are they not going to pay for the food because someone had to cook it? The chef is working on Sunday too.
Culturedropout :
SO WELL SAID!!!
You are 100% correct.
My reply would have been: Since you don’t believe in people working on Sundays, we just won’t have anyone serve you tonight.
WTF. If they don’t like people going to work on Sundays, why did they even patronize the restaurant. Hypocrites.
I do agree that was a pretty low ting to do, and completely unnecessary, but two thoughts 1) They could have been people posing as Christians and 2) Even if they were serious in what they said and were Christians, that doesn’t mean that represents the entire Christian community. There are bad tippers and just plain rude people in every denomination, even atheist. People are people, some are not as loving or aware as others, but I don’t believe that one can base something of a hatred based off of a few individuals out of a group of any sort. That would be like meeting a few people, who are [insert ethnicity, race, religion, sex here] and come to the conclusion that just because they were ignorant jerks that every single type of them are. It doesn’t matter what these people were, yes it’s sad and I disagree with there actions but it’s not enough to go on.
“As it is in human nature, we remember the bad, yet leave the good to be taken for granted and forgotten”
1. I think it’s asenine to expect someone to cook for, serve and clean up after you when you claim to not believe it’s right for them to do so.
2. I think it’s awful that folks in the service industry get such horrid wages.
3. I also think that if you work hard for your tips, then you believe to some degree it’s up to the guest how they tip, depending on how good a job you do. So c’mon… let the guest decide. I know your checks are small, but that’s a problem for the Department of Labor to solve, not the guest, who may not make much more than you, either. You must realize there are other professions that make next to nothing for money, and are strictly forbidden to accept anything like a tip, right? How about teachers? Hell, they often spend their own money just to get supplies for their students.
Why don’t waiters get paid properly so that they don’t have to rely on tips? It seems proper pay would solve this problem.
i had some christians say to me, “we only give the lord 10%, so why should we give you 15%?”
your church wants 10% of everything you make. your waiter is only asking for at least 15% of your dinner bill.
In canada it is illegal to pay anyone less than minimum wage. So why do we still have tips? If your job doesn’t pay you enough then go get a different job. Being a server at a restaurant isn’t really supposed to be a career. I don’t get a bonus on my paycheck if I work extra hard – why should servers. What pisses me off the most are servers that just expect a tip regardless of how lousy their service actually is. Lousy service? No tip. Great service? 15%
I lived in Japan for a year. They don’t accept tips at all. For any reason. And they appear to be happy to do the job that they are paid to do. Imagine that. I once sat down at a table and was given a glass of water while waiting for my guest. I received a call that my guest wasn’t coming so I decided to leave. I attempted to pay at least for the water and they refused my money. With a smile no less.
Tips? Useless. If you can’t survive economically without tips, get a different job and quit whining.
Oh and lastly, religion is for the mentally inept.
I apologize to others on behalf of REAL christians. REAL christians don’t demonstrate their belief through punishment.
I was born and currently live in Savannah and I am just sick of the Bible Belt routine. I’ve got to say… Old Christians are the worst tippers. And it’s not just the tipping… it’s everything… they use their religion for benefit. Not to mention the way they smell. It’s like they eat moth balls. It smells like the inside of an eighty year old baseball glove. Why do old people smell so bad? Are they dying from the outside in?
And anonymous above me needs to take his or her stupid ass back to Japan or Canada. Lousy service…lousy tip… I agree. Great Service…crappy tip…not cool. Keep your stupid ass at home.
While it is true that it is illegal to pay less than minimum wage, servers have a lower minimum wage than all other types of employment. In Ontario, currently $7.60 compared to $8.75. Talk to the government about that, and then we can talk about getting rid of tips.
I disagree that serving is not meant to be a career…I know many people who enjoy doing it as their career and would be insulted to be told otherwise. Not everyone can be the president.
And it’s unfortunate that you don’t get a bonus for working extra hard…there are many professions that receive bonuses, and for doing a lot less ‘hard’ work than servers.
I’ve had this kind of thing happen to me on more than one occasion.
One night, I recognized a woman at one of the tables I was waiting on, but couldn’t place from where I knew her. I asked her, and it turned out that she used to be a chaperone at the youth group I went to in high school. We chatted for a few minutes about the church she and her husband started, she paid, and left. After she left, the table behind her told me that they had overheard the conversation and invited me to their church as well.
The funny thing about this whole situation? Both tables paid with credit cards, neither tipped me (despite the fact that I gave them both excellent service!) and both STOLE my pens!
I personally don’t have anything against Christians as a whole, but it really bothers me when you boast a certain lifestyle and then completely disgrace it. Like those people who have the “In case of rapture, you can have my car!” bumper stickers – these same people 9 times out of 10 have the WORST road rage I’ve ever seen!
And it’s not just religion either. I once waited on a group of people who were all wearing Narcotics Anonymous tee shirts – all of whom proceeded to get completely plastered during their meal (some of them, their meal consisted of nothing but the alcohol!)
Hypocrisy of any kind just bothers me. And I realize that I can be just as guilty of it as others, but I also try not to boast against the very things I do.
Why should anyone have to tip anyway? That’s like paying someone’s wages twice.
Seriously, do you tip people at McDonalds or other fast food place?
Do you tip the mailman?
Do you tip your children’s teachers?
______________________________________________________________
Clearly you’ve never held a real job. Probably a Republican. Truth is, if restaurants paid waiters/waitresses anything over a pittance (most get paid less than $4/hr) they wouldn’t be able to stay in business. Yes, waiters/waitresses/hostesses/maitre d’s/to some extent bartenders and yes, even casino dealers LIVE off their tips. Their paychecks don’t even cover transportation to and from the job. Most people are ignorant of this fact. So-called “Christians” are just ignorant about everything, so this is just another straw.
Fortunately for you, clues are free…
As a long-time restaurant worker I can attest to the FACT that the vast majority of the public have no idea how to conduct themselves in public.
If she was paid right, she wouldn’t be depending on tips in the first place. You should only be tipping to show that you think the service is expectional anyway. Or is this some american thing I just don’t get.
This behavior absolutely is hypocritical. But it is not “Christian hypocrisy,” it’s hypocrisy practiced by Christians who are not following the dictates of their faith.
If this behavior could be traced to the teachings of Jesus, then your argument that there is something inherently Christian about it would hold water. But, as pointed out by others, Jesus specifically *required* that Sabbath laws be broken in order to help one’s neighbor — and he inveighed repeatedly against the religious hypocrites of his own day, who put burdens on others while relieving themselves of them.
A few corrupt Democratic lawmakers have provided favors to businessmen in return for large campaign contributions. But you wouldn’t say that the Democratic Party stands for the interests of big business on the basis of that alone, would you? The same standard needs to be applied here.
Exactly. The business owner is supposed to pay his staff. The tip is what you give when the service was great
Why is it that each of the references to being robbed have the person being robbed by a black guy? “if I got robbed by a black guy, doesn’t mean all blacks are muggers”
WTF?!? I’m sorry but your unintentional prejudice is showing . . .
You are trying to make the point that not all Christians are lousy tippers by propogating the stereotype that you automatically associate muggings with dark skinned men. tsk tsk tsk.
Stop making stupid analogies.
BTW, my response to the sheep would have been” You don’t believe in working on Sunday? In that case I won’t make you sin by serving you.”
People like this is the reason we had whats called the Blue Law, in Texas,,,you could not buy anything on Sunday unless it was a necesary item..Thank God about 15 yrs ago this Law was gotten rid of,, These people that expected to eat and be served and not tip is absolutley riddiculous….. they do’nt sound very christian too me… I know i would have handled them a lot differently…they need to get with the program and learn their manners. I dont believe that this is about christians, I believe this story is about stupid people,.. Ones using christianity as an excuse,,, and it looks like it worked for them.. Besides all that, What the Hell were they doing in a resteraunt on a Sunday expectin to be served. exspecially if they do’nt beleive a person should be workin on a Sunday to begin with,,, talk about calling the kettle black. These people need to stay home and be miserable together… Not take their misery out in public………Stupid people Breeding begets stupid people !!!!!!!!!!!!1
i refer to comments by Sarah Davidson in this sunday no tip pay discussion
i have visited usa in 1992 and did not pay tips too however i did not realise that tips made up half or more of wages paid so am ashamed now of my refusal to pay , not withstanding that i am a disabled and live on short funds too However Sarah raises an issue that i want to address
Saran can you show me from the bible where Sunday is said to be the Sabbath i can only find Sabbath day recorded as the Seventh day of our week
in the past someone offered 1 million us Dollars to anybody that can show from the Bible that Sunday is the Sabbath Day nobody took up the challange
Here is are two quote in part from articles from the Catholic Mirror of Sept. 1893
“There is just one refuge left for the Protestants. that is to take their stand squarely and fully upon the “written word only,” “the Bible and the Bible alone,” and thus upon the Sabbath of the Lord. Thus acknowledging no authority but God’s, wearing no sign but His (Eze. 20:12, 20), obeying His command, and shielded by His power, they shall have the victory over Rome and all her alliances, and stand upon the sea of glass, bearing the harps of God, with which their triumph shall be forever celebrated. (Revelation 18, and 15:2-4.”
” To add to the intensity of this Scriptural and unpardonable blunder, it involves one of the most positive and emphatic commands of God to His servant, man: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it No Protestant living today has ever yet obeyed that command, preferring to follow the apostate church referred to than his teacher the Bible, which, from Genesis to Revelation, teaches no other doctrine, should the Israelites and Seventh-day Adventists be correct. Both sides appeal to the Bible as their “infallible” teacher. Let the Bible decide whether Saturday or Sunday be the day enjoined by God. ”
Sarah i would invite your personal comments here and by email direct to me here at noelhughes@optusnet.com.au
for the so called christians in this story, let me, let you in on a lil secret. resteraunts pay there wait staff right around 2′00 an hour.they make therir living off tips.. then the IRS comes in and take taxes off the top of eveything this waitress sells in a year. i was a waitress for years all over Tx and had to put up with this kind of treatment from so called christians. And in a reseraunt the customer is allways right…I quit this kind of business because the customer is not allways right, and you can not tell them this without loosing your job..BUT HEY the ones out there that give waitstaff a hard time, YOU ARE NOT ALLWAYS RIGHT. from one who finally got her say….
Idiots, they are the people that give christianity a bad name, I’ve never come across it but I do know people who are like this. All they are doing is causing others to sin, which surely is far worse than those who work in the restaurants, many of whom will have never heard of Jesus so will in fact be blameless. The new testament is full of people like these and Jesus hated this most of all. God bless and for all the atheists, keep on looking, past all this rubbish please
As a matter of fact i do tip the mailman.. he gives bones to the neighborhood dogs all year long,I guess thats the difference between living in the country, and city living…
I gotta say, if you’re in the USA and haven’t heard of Jesus, you must be living under a rock somewhere.
And Christians say they’re making the world a better place?
Wonder if the preacher preaches this same thing to the local prostitutes before receiving their services.
@aussie: Yeah, I guess it is a weird American thing. Here servers get paid less than $3/per hour and that is half of minimum wage. 15% tips are assumed on every sale, and no matter whether you get the tips or not, you are taxed. It is completely possible to lose money being a server, but those people usually are fired before or as soon as that starts happening.
I live in the Bible Belt and my mom works at an upscale restaurant in our wealthy town and she makes the best tips during Sunday brunch. I guess the real Christians live here. That being said, her step dad was one of those people who didn’t understand the way this worked and refused to tip any body.
im a christian. and that little story is pretty messed up. but please. will everyone stop with the “thats why i cant stand christians and religion!!” bull crap? your basing your opinion towards a whole group off of a mere individual. and thats kinda lame. like me disliking all atheists cuz they all sound really mean. which is not the case. cuz some of my best friends are atheist/agnostic.
I used to work as a waitress in Bob Evans. In West Virginia. My first job ever and I’m thankful for the insight it gave me. We got paid $3.30 per hour. Which is amusing because when you worked carry-out (when you still got tips) you were paid $7.50 (minimum in the state of WV at the time was $5.50.)
Im going to be perfectly honest. the only way i got tips on sundays is when I cried. I couldn’t handle the table load and people who were normally not sympathetic would tip crazy. So why the weirdness? My first three tables wouldn’t tip me at all, but as soon as I started becoming upset, ten dollar bills everywhere. You won’t give because it’s a sunday, but on a sunday you will give because a girl is stressed, sad, and tired? I spilled water on someone and got a $20.00 tip. WTF
Also, from that position: If the food takes forever to come out, why do you not tip the waitress? She can’t control how slow the cooks are. I waited an hour once for someone’s salad. It was awful.
Anywho, just my two bits in there.
Oh noes, not hypocritical christians. [sarcasm]
@JC. Sunday is the seventh day of the week. The International Standards Organisation states that Monday is the first day of the week. Calendars in most European countries now follow the ISO decision by starting the week on Monday. The arguments about whether it changed or when it changed are pointless when you consider that everything these days works that way.
However you are right about the sabbath it was saturday for 1400+ years, it was changed by the church, like so many things, to match up with an already existing day-of-rest. Sorry forgotten the source and more details but it is true. Google it.
That’s ridiculous. Why would they go out to eat on Sunday to a dining establishment which depends on its employees to work any day of the week if they don’t believe in it? How would they be served in the first place?
Yet another example of how hypocritical Christianity is…
I think that it is a farce to assume all christians are like the few that allegedly performed this rude and uncalled-for action. I am an intelligent and, yes sometimes skeptical, catholic but just because I choose to believe in God and Jesus does not make me like every well to do snob that just happens to exist every couple hundred people in my religion. I leave excellent tips for excellent service and mediocre tips for mediocre service, thats the way it works. Thank you. Shall I assume all atheists are stereotyping butt-holes now?? And I agree with the earlier comment. The Catholic Church is not the barometer for Religion. and to the above- until you understand the true meaning of faith, YOU are the only hypocrit in this matter
Those people weren’t Christians they were ego-tripping cheap-skates! The golden rule is the central tenet of most religions, …do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I would have licked their plates before serving them, muahahahaha! (obviously not a xtian)
My sister is a waitress and had someone tell her the same thing once (although different reason). She said no problem. Then never put in their order. She kept telling them it would just be a few more minutes until an hour and a half went by and they got mad and left, lol.
This must mean the guy who wrote this was prejudiced….
First off, Sunday (the first day) is not a holy day. Saturday (the Seventh day) is the Lords holy day. Those “Christians” are hypocritical… If they want to keep Sunday “holy”, they shouldn’t even go out to eat on sunday. Not too piss people off, but a lot of sunday-keepers have double standards when it comes to keeping a day holy. The fourth commandment in the Bible is the Sabbath Commandment (Seventh Day). “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. In it you shall do no work… nor anyone that is in your gates…” You shall not work and NOBODY especially should be working for you. Please do not label All Christians in your Groupings. I go to church every Saturday and do not go out to eat on Saturday. Now Sundays, I definitely go out to eat and I tip very well
…and Morgan, Christianity is not hypocritical… PEOPLE ARE HYPOCRITICAL. God is good. We sin, so we are doomed to die. Jesus Died for you and me so we can live. Salvation is a Free gift to ALL. Nothing hypocritical there.
I happen to be a christian, and I tip rather well. I have nothing against people who work on Sundays, as I have to work most Sunday’s myself. I may believe in The Lord, but he’s not paying my bills. Not all Christian’s are jerks.
sounds like a bunch of cheapskates using religion to get out of tipping. How could the restaurant say anything, as the group could turn around and say this is part of our religion and it’s discrimination to make us tip.In Ireland where I am from it is not custom to tip unless you got really good service or thing someone made a real effort.But while in Americe I of course tipped everywhere I went. Could I turn around and say I’m not going to tip you because it is not custom in my country…I don’t think so.
There’s a lot I want to reply to but I’ll try to keep it simple.
I am a server. For those of you who say “find a better job” it’s rather difficult when there are currently few jobs available. Some of us are still trying to go to college. Some of us have families we are trying to work around. It’s not so easy to just go out and get another job.
I am paid $3.35 an hour. Since I receive a “compensatory wage” from tips, I do not legally have to be paid minimum wage. Out of my paychecks which range between $35 and $45 dollars, I am taxed on %10 of all sales I have made since it is assumed that I made at least that much in tips. Most people don’t realize this, or maybe they do but just expect me to find a better job.
I do not make my schedule. I can’t tell my boss that I won’t work on Sundays, unless I want to lose my job and be replaced by one of the hundreds (and I do mean hundreds) of applicants who come into our restaurant looking for work each week.
On these Sundays, which I have to choose between working and receiving what little wages/tips I can get or having no job at all, I receive all sorts of religious materials. I am commonly stiffed by churchgoers who leave me business cards for their church, cards with bible verses printed on them, and of course the infamous tokens and fake bills which say “the best tip I can give you is eternal life through Jesus Christ.”
For those of you who are upset by people saying negative things about Christians, it isn’t that all Christians behave this way, but that this is only one of the numerous examples of hypocrisy, ignorance, and self-righteousness that Christianity has shown to the world.
So forgive me, Father, for I am a server.
And I’ll forgive you for having such idiots as your followers.
That is completely ridiculous. What about all of the church goers who want to go buy a Sunday paper after church? who do they expect to buy it from? and what about if mom forgot a can of corn to go with her sunday meal of roast beef? it’s not as if she WOULDNT be mad if the stores werent open to sell her something…and why would they go into a restaurant in the first place if they don’t believe people should be working…just to criticize and tell them they’re wrong and because they want and need to feel and be right all the time….im a christian myself but this story just made me ashamed to be one.
A number of people making comments have argued that the people who failed to tip on Sunday because it was against their religion are not representative of all Christians.
The problem with this argument is that the central theme of all versions of Christianity is that Christianity inevitably changes people for the better. Stories like this prove that this assertion is false.
Let’s be clear. This is a problem with fundamentalist Christianity. Roman Catholics, for example, do not read the Bible literally (since there’s no physical way it could be the exact same words – it was passed down orally for centuries then translated through 3 different languages BY HUMANS). Therefore, we don’t become assholes. It’s that simple.
This is what scares me about the “religious right.” It misrepresents Christianity and has WAY too much power (see Palin, Sarah). Plus, they conveniently forget much of the contradictions inherent in their orthodoxy and ignore things like helping the poor. Jesus said to give our possessions to the poor, but if we do that, we’re socialist-communists according to the right.
my question is why are there so many christians (or at least people knowledgeable about fundamental christians and the bible, etc.) on a website called friendlyatheist.com? are people like waking up or something? or am i missing something really obvious?
I remember when I was a server and Christians
would leave a dollar and a track . That is why when I go out with my church I always tip well at least 20 percent regardless of the quality of service. I am more concerned about my witness. I am reluctant to go out in large groups any way
“Hey, I’m going to take this off the shelves and out of your store. I’m not going to pay you though, because I don’t believe in people working on Sunday.”
I wonder if the cops would accept such a poor excuse. Do these saps not realize that everybody is tired of them running and hiding behind their “faith” and religiosity so they can be selfish, antisocial jerks to everyone around them?
Perhaps they have an incentive to do so, though. They are going to heaven on merit of their faith after all, and not their works.
I am a Christian and this pisses me off. These people don’t know the meaning of agape love. I believe that since I’m a christian I should be the best tipper ever because God has blessed me inordinately. For me a 20% tip is bottom end.
Christians, in general, want what they want when they want it. They then need to revert to their hypocritical beliefs and cheat working people out of their due payment. Not unexpected after they have tithed to their make pretend friend in the sky.
Screw reality,pay the artificial gnome, let the human beings who work suffer.
PRAISE GLOB!
I will never understand you Americans and your strange custom of tipping. Why can’t you just pay your waitstaff proper wages and raise the prices in your restaurant this whole tipping-is-optional-but-it’s-really-not business seems to cause so much grief.
Good on Ya, Aussie Chick! You just beat me to it. It’s the American way to underpay your staff and then expect the customer to make up the difference. If they don’t – who loses? You got it – not the owner!
Isn’t it funny that Jesus did kind of the same thing? He and his friends got the munchies and were picking food out of a field and then someone really churchy criticised him for doing so. See Mark 2:23-27.
We all have to eat, you know.
This whole entire situation is ridiculous, as the restaurant has a ‘gratuity will be added to parties of 6 or more’ policy, and the server was tipped anyway. Way to go, Applebee’s!
funny thing is i just got home from my weekly sunday lunch shift at chili’s where i wait tables. it is common knowledge amoung all the servers on staff that sunday lunch is the worst day to work just becuase of the number of “church goers” that show up just to tip you like shit. if i didn’t need the money, i would refuse to work this particular shift, but maybe i should be thanking the good lord for less than 10% on every table i wait on. i guess they split it in half: 10% to god and 10% to me…..bullshit
This smacks of so much irony I can’t even stand it. The fact that they had the audacity to say they wouldn’t tip, but went ahead and sat their asses down in that restaurant anyway is beyond me. Did they think that the cook in the back was working for free or that the manager was doing all that as a volunteer? They are still supporting the business of the restaurant. If they really don’t believe in people working on Sundays, they should stay at home and cook their own damn food. Besides all this, I’m sure that the Pastor of their church gets paid well and technically works on Sunday. What a bunch of hypocrites!!!
As a server and bartender in the Deep South, this strikes a particularly close-to-home chord with me.
I keep a collection of all of the religious tracts and cards I receive in my apron. I intend to present them to the electric company some day in hopes that my Godbucks will pay the bill.
hold on
isnt it also in the bible to stay at home?
or something to that extent
like you know the whole day of rest thing.
and how do you not beleive in something thats serves you food.
i think i get it.
it doesnt matter your religion or lack there of. you see its a game. “how low can i go” kinda game the one where you make everyone else associated with you look like a complete dick.
thanks religious douchebags out there your making yourselves look like assholes
I’ll have to agree with Scott on this one…
Judging an entire system of belief by the actions of a few adherents does not determine the truth of that system. The argument would have to go into more details as to the validity of Sabbath laws still binding in New Testament times, etc. There may be millions of good tippers out there that not all people are aware of. I tip very well when I go to a cafe or pub as a Christian. The question is, what moral standard can an atheist use to require ‘good’ behavior, period. In an atheist worldview, there are no absolutes in regards to morality; only pragmatic ones.
Charles
So what’s happening here is they’re not believing in something that is quite literally happening before them(people who work on sundays) and opting instead to base their (terribly rude) behavior on the belief in something that is quite non-existent. brilliant!
I attended church with my ex for 20 years. I was the only wage earner so I made sure the damn church never got a penny of my money.
I told her as soon as she worked and earned a wage she could give it all to the church…she never did.
I cannot believe I missed this the first time. I worked as a server for several years, and waiting on church folks was always a hassle. The best was church conventions. I worked downtown near the convention center, and when Promise Keepers, or another christian convention was in town, we could count on no tips. It got so bad that our management upped our hourly during convention times, so we could still make rent. Add to that the tendency to split meals and not drink, and you spent lots of time on a cheap table.
My favorite moment – a large group of women (denim skirts, big hair) all shared a few pizzas and water – the bill for the 6 of them was probably about $40 all together. At the end of the meal, they asked me to come over so they could pray for me. I politely declined, and when I went to bus the table, it was covered in tracts and bible verses scrawled on the paper table cover. Including several admonishments against homosexuality – I guess my rainbow bracelet and short hair tipped them off. We kept the table cover for a while in the back.
Oh the memories.
[...] recently stumbled across a post from The Friendly Atheist and it brought me back to my days as a waiter. Basically, the worst [...]