"What are your hours?"

Ask her when she's not working. She probably has enough stress already unless it's really slow.

"When do you get off?" is good for the double entendre and bad for exactly the same reason.

Never ask a girl out when she is working.

Instead, be with friends (coed) and ask if she wants to hang out. Make sure she knows that YOU are asking her though or she will marry your best friend (it's true it happened to me).

Also see sig.

The only girls that look for guys that look and dress like girls are emos.

And emo girls are way more work than they are worth. Pseudodrama is THE WORST kind of drama.

a name and a phone number's always good. if you manage to get the phone number it can lead to alot of stuff.

haha waitresses are whores.... and not too much different than strippers when you think about it. one serves food for money; the other, **** and ***. on top of that, they're always being hit on by every horny ****er, so good luck with that. those similarities are a *****, aren't they?

yay for broad generalizations

I don't think you properly appreciate the significance of this difference.

lol

That's what I thought of when I saw this thread.

tell me how many waitresses you can name that were attractive that didn't flirt up a storm and hit on every guy willing to reciprocate. it's a ploy for more money... i know you'll count maybe 2 or 3, but how many can you say honestly weren't playing your manfiddle for more money?

he was making a pun

broads

get it?

Almost every single one in countries that don't think its neccessary to tip huge amounts for doing the job they're paid for?

I'm going to have to say that (even in America, yo) I haven't noticed a lot of what Asp's talking about. I'm sure the attitude of the diner/their behavior has a large effect on how willing the waitress would be to flirt...

Basically, BA is a ladykiller I guess.

throat ****

Can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel
My heart's in overdrive and you're behind the steering wheel

Touching you, touching me
touching you, god you're touching me

I believe in a thing called love
Just listen to the rhythm of my heart
There's a chance we could make it now
We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down
I believe in a thing called love
Ooh!

I wanna kiss you every minute, every hour, every day
You got me in a spin but everythin' is A.OK!

Touching you, touching me
touching you, god you're touching me

I believe in a thing called love
Just listen to the rhythm of my heart
There's a chance we could make it now
We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down
I believe in a thing called love
Ooh! Guitar!

Touching you, touching me
touching you, god you're touching me

I believe in a thing called love
Just listen to the rhythm of my heart
There's a chance we could make it now
We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down
I believe in a thing called love
Ooh!

You're a little late on that, Jep.

Well fork me twice and call me Jenny, you are right.

Now as all good french, I shall bow out and surrender.

ruffle

You could go the office space route:

"I was wondering what you were doing for lunch/dinner?"
"Uhh *names the specials*"
"No, I was wondering what YOU were doing for lunch/dinner?"
"*Baffled*"

Then come up with some way to ask her when she's off of work, and suggest a nearby place to grab foods.

You realize waiters/waitresses get paid something like $3 an hour, right? So the tips are not extra money, they are necessary.

Then you should be petitioning for a raise in minimum wage and strengthen the unions, to actually make a difference to the system.

You don't understand. It's not a problem looking for a solution. It's just the way things work and there's nothing wrong with that, unless people don't tip any because they're *******s and don't understand.

The reason they get paid so little is BECAUSE tipping is customary.

Union of waiters?

Or because they don't believe that what's explicitly defined as a "gratuity" should be implicitly obligatory. If it's so essential, it should be included in the check as a service fee.

You're still missing the point. It's a custom now, part of the culture. Like free drink refills. Why are you arguing against being able to CHOOSE what your server gets paid? You'd rather it was automatically included in the check, or not included at all and they get paid the same no matter what? That doesn't encourage good service...this way if you were dissatisfied with your service, tip less, if you thought it was exceptional, tip more. It helps motivate servers to do a good job. You seem to view it as some special extra thing you have to pay...in this culture, it's not, it's just part of the cost of eating at a restaurant. Even better, it's a functional part that you control! Where is the problem?

Waiters make a TON of money. Besides, minimum wages? Seriously?

When did this happen.

It depends on where they work. Last week I went to Cheesecake Factory, and the 3 of us left a $15 dollar tip. The waitress probably had a few other tables, so that could be anywhere from $15 to $100 for one hour.. Sure it has to be taxed, and sometimes shared with bussers or hosts, but still.

The problem is, people have the option of tipping nothing. There's no explicit, binding obligation to tip, but the hissy fit that people then throw when someone does not tip shows that tipping is implicitly obligatory. I can't STAND that -- I would prefer that things be out and in the open. The "gratuity" line/option on credit/debit card receipts and restaurants is a step in this direction. The next step would be to assess an explicit percentage service fee. If people wanted to "tip" more afterwards, they could, but then there would be far less of a riot if someone chose not to tip.

No one tips in Finland because we're cheap jerks.

That's stupid. The server's hourly pay IS the service fee. If you think they did a crappy job, then leave it at the bare minimum, don't leave a tip. Sure they're going to be angry, but it's their own fault for giving ****ty service. If that person did a good job and still got a bad tip, then that's just a flaw of human nature...and good luck getting good service if you ever come back. I really can't understand why you have any problem with this system? Do you have some sort of problem with personal interaction? It's like you want to avoid the human element of eating out and make it all predetermined and impersonal, like a vending machine.

The thing is its their job to give good service, and therefore they don't really DESERVE anything else unless say I order coffee and they come back with coffee and a free steak or something.

Yes, servers can make bank when working in the correct environment. You don't even have to be a great server. I was taught to leave 15% as a base unless they just did an absolutely **** job. If I eat out and spend only a little money, I'll probably tip more than usual because no one likes a dollar tip. I dunno, maybe it's just because I've waited tables before, but I tip well. I also tip for the intangibles and by intangibles I mean I can look but I can't touch).

I also think a lot of people underestimate most servers responsibilities.

Not saying it's rocket science, but it does take a little bit of talent to keep everything straight at times.

Here's my point:

Is this system WORSE than the way it works for other professions or is it just DIFFERENT?

It's their job to give good service, they do it, you (and the person you're with, and maybe 3 other tables, for the sake of argument) pay $8.00 for your dinner and give them a $1.60 tip to add to their $3.00/hour pay. For that hour, the server makes $15.80 and each person paid $9.60.

OR, they get paid $15 and hour and you pay for that extra overhead by having to pay $10 for your dinner instead of $8. Of course, if they do a terrible job, they still get paid the same and you still pay the same, you leave feeling ripped off.

I'm not saying it always works out perfectly like that, but what's the problem? It's like a company giving its employees a christmas bonus for doing a good job, except the employees deal directly with the customer so the customer can judge and give the bonus.

[Edit: No, I'm not and have never been a waiter. I don't like working with food. I do, however, eat out regularly (at college living in the dorms it's a requirement) so I am very familiar with the procedure.]

I know, I've played Diner Dash.

Oh and P.S., in the spirit of this thread and regarding zul's comments, I don't tip hot girls more, but I am more forgiving of errors. That is, however, an entirely separate issue revolving primarily around the fact that I am shallow and easy to amuse.