[lookout123]

well, let's look at real life. i took the family to disney earlier this week.

long waits abound in the sit down restaurants. ESPN zone only averaged 15-20 minutes vs. 90 minute wait at rainforest cafe, so i had opportunity to eat at ESPN a few times.

First night - Shannen was our waitress. it was very busy, but she was standing next to me before i even got my son settled in. she explained that she was very busy so she wouldn't be able to take our order right away, but she wanted to get drinks to us immediately. i appreciated the upfront honesty. i also appreciated that our drinks were on the table within 2 minutes. she was still back and chatting with us inside of 5 minutes. as i took the last drink of my iced tea, she walked up pitcher in hand and refilled it on her way to another table. this happened 3 times. shannen ruled. shannen ended up with a $20 tip. i did the math figuring an average of $10/table/hour and shannen was probably hauling in easily $50/hour at that rate. considering her excellent service, i'm sure she does much better than that.

Second night - Don't know our waitress's name. it wasn't as busy, it took at least 5 minutes before we saw her. she forgot to bring drinks back. she got wife's order wrong, and i had to stop a different server to get more iced tea. the nameless waitress got $5. yes, i felt bad - but i got poor service and i don't feel i need to reward poor service with anything extra. doing the math, i figure even if she got $5/table/hour she was clearing $20/hour - much more than her service justified. i'm sure she was griping about her poor tips later, but what the hell? you want more? do more.