Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Arizona Senator Jon Kyl is a Cheap Ass

Something I don't understand is why rich people always feel like they are entitled to free stuff even though they are in that certain percentage of people who can actually afford to pay for things. I see it all the time at my job. "Table 3 is a VIP. He's a very famous actor who works on Broadway all the time, has a Tony award and just started shooting his own television series. Bring me his check so I can comp it." Meanwhile, table 4 is a struggling singer who took the night off from her restaurant job to come see her friend's show and she has to buy bottled water because she can't afford a cocktail. It's not right. The bubble that rich people have around them is very often a bubble that was created by others.

I recently got an email from a server in Yuma, Arizona who wanted to let me know that his state senator, Jon Kyl came into the restaurant a few weeks ago. I won't say the name of the restaurant because I don't want the server to get fired. Senator Kyl came in with three other men and they proceeded to order about $100 worth of food; a couple of fish sandwiches, a double hamburger, a philly cheese steak, four orders of fries and four large drinks. The men told the server the food was great and the service was great but you know what they left for a tip? A big fat pile of nothing. Really, Jon Kyl? Isn't enough that Jon Stewart hates you? But now you want to make sure that servers across the country think you are a total asswipe too? I did a quick Google search for the annual salaries of state senators and I think you are making about $174,000 a year. That means that you probably could have cobbled together the fifteen fucking percent that you should have left for your server since he is probably making the minimum wage for tipped employees in Arizona which  is $4.65 an hour. That's about the cost of one of the orders of french fries your table had.

According to Senator Kyl's website, he is serving his third and final term in the U.S. Senate. In 2008, he was elected to serve as Republican Whip which is exactly what the server wanted to do to his cheap ass when he saw the 0% tip waiting for him. It is inexcusable.

Politicians are always seen in little diners across the country when they are pandering to the voters. I guess they think that surrounding themselves with salt of the earth people in humble little watering holes makes them seem more approachable and more like regular people. You're not regular people, politicians. Most of you have money and a lot of it which automatically makes you unlike anyone I know. No one is buying that you just happened to stop by the little diner on Main Street to have a burger and a beer. We all know you are there to get some press.

"I'm a regular person."

"I'm a regular person."

"I'm a regular douchebag."
Well, here is some press for you, Jon Kyl: servers depend on tips. Our pay checks are next to nothing. Those dimes and quarters that people toss on the table are what goes into our pockets to pay for rent, food and clothing. We need it. It's our salary. Most of us don't have insurance benefits from our jobs and even fewer of us get any kind of retirement plan from waiting tables so every time you stiff one of us, it puts us deeper into the hole. I hope this blog gets shared by everyone who reads it so that eventually it will float over to your office in Arizona. Maybe then you will do the right thing and have your ass chauffeured back over to Yuma where you can find you server and say, 'I'm really sorry I forgot to tip you when I was here last week. I know you work hard and it's tough to make ends meet when you are depending on tips. Here's $20.00. Thank you so much for the great job you did. I really appreciated it."

I challenge Jon Kyl to even acknowledge that this happened. Please share this and let's see if he ever hears about it. Or you can email him here and ask him about it. He'd like that.



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25 comments:

Anonymous said...

If by chance he does see this, I am positive he will have an excise for not tipping. IE I left money on the table, someone must have taken it off, or oh it slipped my mind. I will return to the restaurant and leave 3.00 for my mistake. Someone else picked up the check, its not my fault they didn't tip.

yudelnoodle said...

Friendly note...I'm a server in as and minimum for us is now a whopping 4.65 and hour. Live your blog!

Amanda said...

I am so glad you called this guy out. I hope his email gets filled with messages from tired, pissed off servers across the country. I'm so tired of suits and ties coming in, sitting in my section, complimenting the wonderful service I've given them after theyve discussed their oh-so-important business for 2 hours (not allowing me to turn the table), and then leaving me less than 15-20% on a CORPORATE credit card. It's not even your money!

I'm sorry to the server this happened to. Just another ignorant, wealthy suit coming in who has never truly worked a hard day in their life. Pisses me off so bad.

The Bitchy Waiter said...

Thanks, Yudel. I corrected it.

Dewsterling said...

Who knows? Maybe he tipped the owner - they're the "job creators" who Republicans think need to be rewarded (why acknowledge the people who actually work the jobs?).

Unknown said...

Servers have the right to refuse service, too!

An African couple used to come into a Mexican restaurant I worked for, and one night they were in my sections, and they left without tipping.

I remember being shocked because they were regulars and I had waited on them before and I was certain that it was a mistake.

In the next few days that came to the restaurant and specifically asked for me. I didn't realize until about half way through the service that they requested me, I thought it was coincidence, but I got happy thinking that maybe that figured out what happened and wanted to be sure and compensate me for this service and the previous one.

They left me nothing again.

They came back again, requested me, and and were seated in my section. I approached the table and said, "Sorry guys, I can't take care of you anymore, I won't make you leave me section but another person will take care you tonight."

And I walked away. The server that I gave the table to forgot or was super busy, and I smiled at them every chance I got as I walked by and they still didn't even have drinks on the table.

There are other people who I have placed on a personal ban list for being a poor tipper, an asshole, or whatever. Some people either don't get it or don't care and there is no other answer.

Anonymous said...

I would be surprised if he actually paid for the meal. I thought lobbyists paid for everything. I know of a mayor that took his family out for dinner, then put the server on the phone with a lobbyist to pay the bill. 20% was added for the tip.

Karen said...

Can I copy this to him? I have no problem putting my name as the sender and then you as the writer!!

Karen

PS. Long time reader, first time commenting. Will do better in the future!

Joe Sixtop said...

Totally. Awesome. Post.

zoobabe said...

Hopefully this will get back to him. Then not only will he have to make an excuse for his bad behavior, he will probably overtip the server to save face!

Dan said...

As a server I think people should be admonished for not tipping properly, but do you even know the difference between a state senator and a US senator? It's a pretty big difference. It's a distinction that most people wouldn't expect a server to understand because we're supposed to be uneducated and you are playing into that stereotype by not correctly describing his elected post. Please change it, or half the people who come to your site to read this blog will dismiss it as whining from a plebian who doesn't even know what a US senator is.

Myr said...

Wow. Good post, BW.
If it helps, senators are not all like that. We had our senator stop by my restaurant a couple of years ago. I didn't serve him, but I know he paid full price for his meal and left a decent tip. :-)

Corina said...

I emailed his cheap apparently self-entitled self, and mentioned reading about him in the Bitchy Waiter.

Alan W. Wright said...

Bet if he was up for re-election he wouldn't have been so cheap! Or maybe not; he might have this belief that servers don't go to the polls.

Politicians are not the only ones who may or may not be expecting a comp; professional athletes or their tag-alongs (i.e. - entourage) feel entitled because they feel it's a privilege to serve them! Some years ago, someone from the entourage of Eddie Kennison (former second-string wide receiver who's played for the Saints, Bears, and Chiefs) started demanding that the entire $500 tab they ran up be comped at a Houston restaurant I used to work at. The owners politely declined, thank goodness.

The Bitchy Waiter said...

He is a U.S. senator representing Arizona, correct?

Martin said...

Anybody know the political editor at the newspaper in Phoenix? He or she oughta see this post!

Ida Mackey said...

I just want to correct the author. Tips are now 18%.

Anonymous said...

I noticed that all of the cheapscapes in this were Republicans. This is quite biased. How come no dems were listed? I know for a fact that most democrats leave a very small percentage of their income as donations. Republicans on the other hand do quite the opposite. I am not a server at Morton's or any other fine establishment but I do think that they probably do the same. If not worse. They don't think the world owes them a living. I am very disappointed none the less in Kyl. I always thought he was a stand up guy.

undercoverwaitress said...

Excellent post! And the poor waiter gets to pay income tax on the non-existent tip that will go toward Kyle's "public servant" salary & benefits. yay.

TravelJunkie said...

Great post. I hope these politicians would realize that some people are not earning as much as they do. Great post!

chacha1 said...

I sent a bitchy email to Sen. Kyle. Didn't ask for a response because frankly I don't want to hear from him. But maybe if a lot of people hassle him he'll feel pressured into at least acknowledging what a cheap a$$hole he is.

Anonymous said...

I just left kyl a message via the link you provided. Senator Kyl isnt a bright man. I doubt this will get past whatever ayn rand loving sociopathic intern who monitors the web site for comments. Any one who wants to work for Kyl must be incapable of empathy.

Thanks for making Kyl's latest indignity against a working person known to his unimpressed constiuents.

Anonymous said...

The've got it lucky in Arizona. Minimum wage for servers in Georgia? $2.35/ hr.

Anonymous said...

I sent that jerk a very nice message. And min. wage for servers in N.C. is $2.14/hr so they've got it good in Arizona!

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