In Honor of Veterans Day

DISCLAIMER: If you are a military family on a budget and you eat out according to that budget and your average tip is between 15%-20% YOU DO NOT NEED TO READ PAST THIS! If this does not describe your military family, read on, please, as Uncle Sam says "We Want You" to read and learn.

As most of my blogs start, I am going to tell you one story. This one story is an example to help illustrate a trend in the F&B world. I would not be telling this story if it were an isolated incident. This is an example of something that happens a little too often. Enjoy.

When a young couple comes in and orders an obscure/fabulous beer and a non-common drink - I think "awesome, these guys are going to be fun!" When I ask for their I.D.s and see military... well, I will let the story do the "talking." I gladly get their drinks in, let them know about the specials describe a delicious appetizer and then take their order. The lady gets a soup to start, one of our best seafood dishes (she's got great & expensive taste) and then asks for no tomatoes on her dish. This dish doesn't have tomatoes on it to start with, so I politely ask her if she has an allergy because usually when someone makes a request like that - they have an allergy.
*** It's like ordering a hamburger and asking for no chicken on it... it doesn't make sense at all, but if you have an allergy, maybe you mean "don't have the chef touch chicken and then touch my hamburger." (This is me making a CRAZY analogy for a CRAZY request... again I am trying to give my military personal the benefit of the doubt)***
She, of course doesn't have an allergy, she just needs to make sure to tell me she "hates tomatoes" even though she has ordered a dish without any tomatoes, tomato sauce, it actually doesn't have anything red or any fruit in it at all!!! I'm a professional, so I tell her, of course we will not put tomatoes on it and I even go so far as to let the chef know she has an allergy to tomatoes (just in case he cross contaminated while cooking and she got a whiff of tomatoes on her plate).
He orders our most expensive fillet. He orders it at an appropriate temperature for a steak - because let's face it, there is nothing worse than someone taking a beautiful fillet, asking for it butterflied and well done!

Gosh - I digress... I know why I am, too. I am stalling because I don't want to say what is so obvious to us in the F&B world : No Matter What Service the "Service" Guest is not going to tip you what you deserve...
Okay - back to the story.
They eat their dinner, we politely chat about their plans for the night - going to a movie, etc. I suggest a dessert - she already has her eye (stomach) on one. She wants ice cream with it - it comes with it - it's in the menu description. I DO NOT correct her, I just let her know, of course we will do that for her. They love it! They loved everything!
Then the question I've been waiting for - I know what it is and I know the answer.... "Do you give a military discount? Because he is a firefighter/air force and he is deploying in December and this is our last date night before he leaves." AHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOO! I am mortified, we do not give a discount, I want their night to be special, I have worked really hard to make their night smooth and fun. Now I have to ruin the whole thing by telling them no.
Well, to my surprise, they weren't mad at all when I broke the news. She said "Oh, that's okay, we just like to ask, just in case you do." WOW! I got off easy on that one. Usually the response is not that kind. Usually, I feel like it's my fault, the server, that the management/owner/person-that-never-has-to-deal-with-actual-customers has made a rule and I have to enforce it. I am pro-people who serve others, even when I don't agree with their boss/company. So, to have to tell someone who serves other people, they can't get a discount because of it isn't fun for me...

You would think that this story has a happy ending, since they had a great night and I had cool guests, right?!    
..... $78 bill & a $6 tip.
Thank you for Serving my Country, could you thank me for my service for the evening?

But, I'm Just A Waitress... What Do I Know?!