Tim took his wife out to dinner for their anniversary and their waiter was a friend of hers from high school. Tim feels like he was clearly flirting with her and when he comped their drinks it was the last straw. So Tim didn’t leave him a tip. Did Tim overreact or did he have a point? Is there anything a waiter has done at a nice restaurant that you didn’t leave him a tip?
Jonathan: Today for panic button we have Tim. Hey, Tim.
Tim: Hey. How’s it going?
Jonathan: You had a bit of a run in with the green eyed monster of jealousy the other night. What happened there, Tim?
Tim: Well, my wife and I were out for our anniversary and went to a nice place. And the waiter was a guy who knew my wife from high school.
Ayla: Okay, okay.
Tim: And he was being super friendly? Which is okay. But then he just keeps saying how good she looks.
Jonathan: I hate it when somebody tells me my wife is good looking. That’s the worst.
Ayla: Yeah, but it’s the way he says it. Oh, you still look good 20 years later. Wow. Yeah.
Tim: It was definitely on the creepy side. It was totally creeping me out. Okay. He’s making inside jokes, like you remember this guy and Stubby and all these.
Ayla: Stubby from high school. Okay, so a lot of high school memories.
Jonathan: Got it. All right. So, he was being familiar with your wife. I can see how that would actually be a bit uncomfortable.
Ayla: Like if a female waitress came over and was like, oh, my God. Hi, Rob. It’s so good to see you. You still look so great. I can’t believe it’s been 15 years since we’ve seen each other. Oh my gosh, do you remember our mutual friend? They were so funny. You remember when we parted by the bonfire? I would feel like. Okay. Hi. Hello. I’m still here. What went on between these two people?
Jonathan: What else did he do then?
Tim: Well, I don’t mind a little bit of that stuff, right? Like you run into somebody. But he was going on and on and on and was getting deeper. And eventually he comped the drinks. He didn’t charge us for the drinks.
Ayla: Wow.
Tim: And, under different circumstances that’s great. But I was just like, no, this is my anniversary with my wife. And you’re talking about how good she looks and how you’re buying her drinks.
Jonathan: So he paid for your drinks. I guess that makes them comped. Yeah. And that was a problem for you.
Ayla: Because of everything else.
Jonathan: Because you’re like, oh, I can pay for these drinks.
Tim: Well, it’s my anniversary. I’m trying to buy my wife some drinks and dinner. So. Yeah, absolutely. I don’t want this.
Ayla: I’m totally with him on this.
Jonathan: All right, so what did you do?
Tim: I totally stiffed him. You know?
Ayla: That’s crazy. What do you mean you stiffed him? What is happening? You didn’t leave him a tip?
Jonathan: And this was at a nice restaurant?
Tim: Yeah, But I mean, I was serious at that point.
Ayla: This waiter made him feel uncomfortable with his wife.
Jonathan: He just sounds like he was being nice. I’ve gone out to dinner with my wife. The waiter will be like, oh, the anniversary. You know, you’re such a lucky guy. What a beautiful woman. So what?
Ayla: But Tim is saying that it was so much more than that. It was the connections that they had made in high school, a little story.
Tim: Yeah, saying she is beautiful and he hasn’t seen her since.
Ayla: I just feel like there’s something about an intuition. I usually say a woman’s intuition, but in this case him. You have an intuition that something goes well.
Jonathan: Not according to Tim. That’s why he’s calling us. All right, so you stiffed him on the tip. When did your wife find out about this?
Tim: On the way home. I let that slip. I was just pretty ticked off. Yeah. And she was freaking out on me. It didn’t go well.
Jonathan: Can I ask, has this ever happened before? Where you’ve been somewhere with your wife and you got jealous, thought somebody was hitting on her, or it made you uncomfortable.
Tim: Probably. I don’t know, I can’t really.
Jonathan: I think this was worse because of the personal connection.
Tim: Yeah. And it was just it wasn’t intuition. I know when it’s nothing or when it’s something.
