The best kind of tip you could give

Work was OK today. My feet are still tingling because closing went for almost an hour later than usual since people decided they'd like to sit and talk the afternoon hours away in an already closed restaurant. But that's okay, I'm home now.

My day started off slowly as there was a blackout in my half of the restaurant and of the 11 tables in my section, 3 of them had lights on by them. And my section of course was in the back today, the farthest tables from the windows. Figures. Anyone who DID come sit with me, I tried convincing them that the lights were down to create a romantic ambiance. I don't think anyone really bought it though. I had about 3 people in one hour come and sit with me and I was totally regretting the fact that I hadn't brought either my books or my journal with me for that whole time. But, after the lights came back on, it was all good.

There came a family of six who sat in my section; mom, dad, two daughters, a son in-law, and a biological son who came late (why you need such detail, I know not). Serving them was a breeze as everyone was so cool and easy going; biological son actually kept me there at the table sometimes, cracking jokes and being a fun goof. Once, when I went to check on them and ask them if I could get them anything, he made a comment something to the effect of: "No, the service here is so great, it makes me want to sit here and stay the whole day!"

Anyway, due to his comment, when I noticed them all rise to leave, I passed them and mentioned (mostly to BioSon):

"Hey, where are you all going? I thought you were going to stay all day with me!" They all chuckled and continued gathering their belongings to move on. Finally, as they filed passed me, I waited until BioSon was in earshot and muttered audibly under my breath "Traitor." To my surprise, he grinned and walked right up to me, wielding a folded napkin.

"Here," he handed the napkin to me, "in case maybe you'd be interested in a coffee sometime." And with that, he walked out of the restaurant without giving me anytime to (politely) accept (or reject) his offer. I was flattered, to say the least. Now THAT'S something to leave for your waitress.

The second tip of the same fashion came from the table next to BioSon's, shortly after. It was a married couple sitting there, and they had caught the whole scene. The Wife stopped me and asked me whether or not I was going to call him. I told her I couldn't and why, and she sympathized, joking that she should take the number off my hands because "he was cute!" With the lines of communication open and easy between us now, we carried on casual conversation as much as my serving obligations could allow. The thing that she said to me later though, absolutely made my day.

"Excuse me," she asked me as I brought her a coffee, "but I hope you don't mind me asking; what is your ethnicity?"

"Oh, I don't mind at all. I'm Chinese. 100% Chinese."

"Oh, see, my husband and I weren't sure. But we were just curious because we were talking and we think you are absolutely gorgeous."

Talk about making my day. If that Wife had given me HER number, I definitely would have made it a point to call her after a line like that. Shmelly or no Shmelly. ;)

The other girl I was closing with today, PhotoShoot, was telling me that I was "turning on the charm" today. I have no idea what she was talking about, but by the end of the day, I had those two conversations already mentioned, a compliment (made to both PhotoShoot and I) about the great quality of service, a personal invitation to stay in Boca, Florida, and many other smiles and personal introductions.

Sure, servers live or die by the tips they make, but I personally would rather these other kinds of gratuity any day.

p.s. if anyone wants the number of BioSon, who's cute in a John Corbett-esque sort of way, let me know; I kept the number to remind Shmelly that I've still got it.