Hey Sport
This tab’s for you. Herald’s Joe Fitz on an upscale Beantown deadbeat:
Hey, Big Sport, this one’s for you.
Remember that waitress you stiffed a few nights ago as you sat among the high rollers at Banners Harbor View, the upscale restaurant in the Garden?
You ought to know she’s a single mom who works two jobs to support her boys, who are 6 and 2.
It was opening night for the Celtics, the night they received their rings and raised their flag to the rafters, so, like everyone else in the building, she was excited.
Four tables had been assigned to her, Sport, but your party was the first she served and she remembers you well.
“He wore slacks and a light blue dress shirt,” she said. “He was tall, slim, gray-haired and well-groomed. He told me he had gone online to look at our menu and that nothing seemed to be the same, and I explained how we had just completed a major remodeling and been open only a week.
“I’ve been a waitress 10 years, and when you’ve done this long enough you sort of have an instinct for when people are thinking, ‘Oh, what does she know? She’s just a server.’ Still, you try to be friendly, making them feel really special.”
So she took your orders, then brought you a round of drinks, followed by your salads. But she also sensed your impatience.
“When a customer feels he hasn’t been served in a timely manner, you hope he understands you don’t control the kitchen. And he also should realize that in a fine dining restaurant, the food is never rushed out.
“I kept checking on them, clearing their salads, refilling their water, telling them their meals would be out shortly.”
The chef was about to hand those meals to her when she noticed your table was empty.
“They just all got up and walked out, not even paying for their drinks and salads; they left nothing behind. And it hurt to see those empty seats because their bill would have been $291, my biggest check of the evening.”
Her boss was magnanimous, however, giving her 15 percent of the tab you welshed on, truly a noble gesture.
“At most places I’ve worked,” she said, “the waitress is on the hook for bills that aren’t paid. It happened to me once at a Bertucci’s, but it was teens who did it then. This guy didn’t seem the type; he looked like he might have had class.”
But looks are deceiving, aren’t they, Big Sport?
Well-groomed or not, you’re a real jerk.
Topics: Boston
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:05 pm on Saturday, November 1, 2008
2 Responses to “Hey Sport”
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November 1st, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Just because they’re well-groomed doesn’t mean they can’t be human trash. And that was classy of her boss. If only all bosses were like that.
November 1st, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I just have one question for Big Sport the gaping *sshole: Were you born that way, or did you go to special schools?
My money’s on both…..