Not So Common Knowledge

(Contributed by Mitch Greene)

Recently while working at my job as a server in a local restaurant, I had a tough night. Things had been extremely busy and there wasn’t any time to breathe, let alone take a second for water or rest. My frustration came from a specific table of squatters. They had finished all their drinks and food early on, and I had even laid down the checks for them to pay. However, instead of paying, they let the checks sit while chatting it up and occasionally asking for a water. This went on from 5:30 to 10:30 when they finally paid and left. I was frustrated but thought they might have made the wait worth my while with a generous tip. I don’t like to complain about bad tips, but 15% after sitting for five hours is painful.

That night I was so frustrated that I did the one thing I never do: I took to Instagram to complain! Very mature I know… I wasn’t harsh or whiney. I just said what I needed to get off my chest. If you sit at your table for a long time after you’re done, you are costing your server potential earnings. Percentage tipping shouldn’t be the hard and fast rule if you linger. Just a simple message that I really expected no one to pay mind to. I was screaming into the void of social media, which I would honestly advise against.

However, to my surprise, the next morning while at my other job at a rock-climbing gym, someone I knew came up to me and wanted to talk about what I posted. He told me that he has similar experiences in his line of work and empathized with me. He then told me that what I said hit home for him, that he had never thought of tipping or service like that before, and that he would be more aware of how long he sits and how he compensates for it in the future. I was shocked!

I honestly thought that what I was complaining about was common knowledge and that nobody would act the way those people did. I assumed that the information I had was the same as those around me when that obviously wasn’t true. This situation made me wonder if I make any other snap judgments without realizing that who I judge might not have all the knowledge I thought they did. That’s like yelling at someone for cheating at chess when they’ve never played before. Did you ask them if they knew the rules before starting? The lesson I learned is that we can’t assume what others know without clarification. Don’t judge others by assumed standards. Ask some questions and get some answers first. Your common knowledge might just be a rarity.