As a waitress I know the basic dos and don’ts of a waiter. There are good waiters that fully deserve their 20% (or more!) tip, me, for example. There is, of course, a group of waiters that people shouldn’t tip, and I will try to classify them.
Flirting waiters.
Those are sometimes confused with simple brown-nosing waiters, but they differ in one particular thing: flirting ones are causing damages to themselves or to the dining couple. In the best case your spouse may blush under the influence of an attractive waiter, or check out the long-legged waitress. In the worst case it may cause marriage annulment or fight with the flirting waiter.
Picture your husband/boyfriend who you are in love with. And there she is, with her long blond hair, perfect body, and charming smile. And she is trying to flirt with your man in a very obvious way. You either take your guy with you to another restaurant to have your romantic dinner without further interruption of the waitress, or make a scene in the middle of your flounder. In both cases the waitress is left with no tip.
Careless waiters
Those are the ones that look like they don’t belong among descent people. They are very sloppy, always thinking not about their job. Those waiters may bring a piece of hair in your soup, or will sniff into your stake just in front of you and then wish you an enjoyable dinner.
Think about this example. You are eating your pierogis. They are all delicious and irresistible. Then you find one that has a “Nike” symbol imprinted into it. You laugh at the thought that Nike Company produces not only sporting goods but nutritious goods as well. When you tie the facts together that your waiter wears sneakers, Nike’s - what a surprise! - it is already too late. The waiter not only is not getting tipped but may be also fired from his job after you filling a complaint.
Hating waiters
They seem always not satisfied with their life, and act as a personal issue overshadows the goodness of their ice-cold heart. And of course they are in a constant need to express their disgust by treating you us an unwelcome customer. They have many ways to show you their hatred.
The common, but also the most disgusting of all ways, is expressing waiter’s hate in your dinner. If you find your stake undercooked or overcooked, there is a slight probability that you will receive your meat specially “treated” by the waiter since you are giving him more work and he may not gain from it. It is a shame that it is so, but many of the hating waiters will simply spit into your potatoes. I would never choose a waiter that is in a bad mood. I just would leave the restaurant before it is too late, so the waiter wouldn’t be gratified for his poor job.
These are the three classes of waiters I would never tip. My restaurant, I mean the one I work for, worked very hard to obtain its current reputation. It would never jeopardize its fame for a flirting/careless/hating waiter. Unfortunately there are many of them out there in the world, just waiting to be not tipped.