There’s an unspoken etiquette between a patron and a server. Patron makes the requests. The server is responsible for making sure the patron gets what they need. At the end of the visit, the patron pays for the tab and also leaves a gratuity. Now, for a server, the ideal gratuity is at least 20% of the dine in tab.

There are times a patron will leave a valuable item in addition to the gratuity. The owners of Ren Fest have been known to leave free tickets in addition to a generous tip.

But then there’s this story. (I’m already giggling.)

I walked into work on a late Sunday afternoon. I saw a nice pair of earrings on the counter. They were silver in a teardrop form with embedded green sparkly beads. I ask around for the owner of them.

The story was so odd though that I had to confirm the story from her. She looked a bit upset. Here’s her story.

“The tab was $170. The (20%) tip should’ve been $35 but she gave me 20 bucks and these earrings.” She then paused and said in her most cynical voice, “Guess she thought the earrings were worth $15.”

I looked at her and looked at the earrings. Teardrops were so not her style. She prefers hoops and circles. I absorbed the story. Looked at her again…I looked at the earrings…I cracked a smile and started…I couldn’t help it.

I laughed my butt off for at least 15 minutes!

My server sister is a businesswoman plain and simple. She highly respects the patron-server etiquette. So to give her earrings instead of the money? Well, it’s a breach of etiquette. And she doesn’t even like the earrings!

Love ya sweetie! Also, thanks for giving me the earrings!