[AntiDirtSquad]

When I was going through college, I took a job as a waiter to earm money to go. So, I thought I would pass along a few tips for those of you who've never been waitstaff.
*Please, please, please don't let your kids pour salt and pepper all over the table. The bus boy and I will have to clean up after you leave, making me lose money because they will seat a new customer in another section because we are working on that table.
*Kids-I know all kids are going to through screaming fits occasionally, mine do. But, if they do, please take them outside so the rest of the diners don't have to listen to it.
*We would do almost anything to get a good tip, but bad behavior on the part of the diner does really, really irritate us. Usually, the people who act the worst, don't tip, or if they do, it's an insulting amount. *Please don't clean out your purse or your pockets at the table and leave the debris for us to clean up.
*Please don't demand extra on top of extra if you have a coupon and then stiff me out of a tip.
*If you can't afford to tip, please tell me thank you and explain you are not leaving a tip because you can't afford it, not because I did something wrong.
*Please don't scream at me if the food isn't like you like it, I didn't cook it and I will certainly take it back to the kitchen or comp you if it's cold, over/under cooked or inedible for any other reason. To stiff me on a tip for this reason isn't nice either. IF I have tried to make things right for you if the food wasn't to your liking, please remember that I've done my best to fix things.

I was reminded of these unfortunate incidents above by a disasterous trip to IHOP in my hometown. There was a group that had kids that were abosolutely acting like little monkeys. They were even throwing food like monkeys throw poo! This was one of the worst examples of bad behavior in public I have ever witnessed. The only thing the parents were doing was to threaten the kids without any apparent reprocussions.

The poor waitress and manager were trying everything they knew how to do to placate these kids wihtout any results. It finally got so bad the parents stopped eating (when they were almost done) and leave. They didn't even leave a tip for the poor waitress and she really, really tried. There are so many other incidents from my years as a waiter, but it would take the rest of the year for me to tell.

[Claudia]

That doesn't sound good. I hate when people let their kids act horrible in public. It's one thing for a child to have a meltdown, but it's entirely different when they LET them do something like that.