That CPK Bitch
Do you have a restaurant that you go to just because you are in love with the waiter or waitress? I’m sure everyone has a restaurant in mind. Then, what about the waiter that sucks ass? I know I’ve experienced a few bad waits. Today’s experience, however, pissed me off.
I love…no, loved CPK, California Pizza Kitchen. Love their pizzas. Love their salads. Loved their waiters/waitresses. Except today, this chick - she must be and POOR - made me not to ever want to order a Tomato and Basil pizza ever again.
After we finished our lunch, we asked for the check. Our bill came out to be $28.75. My colleague gave her a $50 bill. Our change: $16.25. I don’t know about you, but if you do the math, $28.75 plus $15.25 DOES NOT add up to $50.
At first, we gave her the benefit of the doubt and said she miscalculated. There is no way she would have / could have cheated us. But two things that she did erased our “benefit of the doubt.”
When we called her over to kindly tell her that we received an incorrect amount for our change, she (1) apologized immediately and said she felt embarrassed. Then she (2) reached into her apron pocket, pulled out her stack of bills - which was obviously her stack of tips for the day - and handed my colleague a $5 bill.
Now, if it really was an honest mistake, why didn’t she stop to think about what she did and verify with herself that it was in fact an error on her? Also, the more perplexing question, shouldn’t she be getting that $5 from the cash register instead of her tip apron??
I think she was trying to steal from CPK. I think she meant to shortchange us. I think she thinks we wouldn’t count our change. I think she’s a bitch for doing that.
And if you are her reading this, Hey, it’s ok. I forgive you.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:26 am
I think you have a warped sense for what forgiveness means. If you truly forgave that waitress, then you would never have given this essay the title you did. In fact, you would never have written it at all.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Forgiveness can come in many forms. In my story above, I am venting about the waitress. I was upset that someone would think that we would be stupid enough to not count our change. Many people tend to make a big deal out of small things like calling a waitress bitch. But after it is out of their system, they can forgive.
It’s like when you are arguing with your husband. You may absolutely hate him in the heat of the moment. But then you call your friend and vent about it. Or you tell your colleague the next morning. But after you do so, you feel better. Then you forgive him.
Are you telling me that you have never been so upset at someone that you vent about that person for a moment but then forgive him/her shortly after?
April 9th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Forgiveness does not come in many forms; it is given freely and sincerely, or not at all.
No where in your story do I get the sense that you forgave the waitress. Instead, you state that she meant to steal from her place of business and from you, and that she is a bitch for doing so.
Venting is understandable; we all do it. My point remains the same, however. If you honestly forgave that woman, then your story would reflect it.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
If I have not thought about this story since the day I posted it, then would you consider that forgiveness? Yes, I do think she meant to steal from her work and from me and I do think she was a bitch for doing so. But heck, I had let it go and didn’t think much of it until I received your comment.
When one whines and complains about something, but then forgets about it, is it not forgiveness?
And don’t tell me that you have never been so upset at someone that you ended up calling her names, but then say “hell with it. Let it go.”
Let it go = Forgiveness in my opinion.
April 10th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
First; this story is about you, not me. What I would do/have done is not pertinent.
Second; no, whining and complaining about something and then calling it forgiveness is NOT forgiveness.
Third; letting it go isn’t forgiveness, either.
‘Forgive’ is an action verb. The act of forgiving is not just ‘letting it go’–it really is an action of consciously giving another person absolution from the wrong they perpetrated against you.
It’s clear that you believe you have forgiven the waitress; so be it.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
After reading this all I have to say is that I work at CPK and I am a waitress-two things. One mistakes do happen-and I am sorry that you had a poor server regarding the tomato basil pizza-however I am sure she did not mean to short change you-mistakes do happen, she could have mis-calculated her change, but as for short changing or trying to steal from CPK-you have this all incorrect as I can see by your response you have never served yourself. When a customer pays with cash or credit it is the servers responsibility to hold onto the credit receipts and cash, which means that only if they need a big bill broken down because they cannot break it themselves would they go to the bar and have it broken, so of course if she short changed you intentionally or not it would come out of her cash-which FYI is not just tip money-it is money for all cash transactions, and at the end of the shift, that cash is split up into what we owe the restaurant for cash tables, minus credit card tips, and that includes tip outs for the bar, host and bussers. We do not go to a register and get change we are in charge of all our own transactions so if we f-up it comes out of our tips-that is why it is important to give correct change not only for the sack of not short changing the customer but also you we do not screw ourselves.