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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To just hate rich, braying people today. I know I am, but I am just not thick-skinned today, angry, RANT alert

399 replies

Lauriefairycake · 06/04/2008 18:51

So we went out for a lovely afternoon waffle at the fabulous waffle house in St Michaels (St Albans). We don't go out much so it was a real treat.

Middle aged almost (mid 50's) couple next to us - him in burberry jacket, Hackett scarf and shirt. Her with £800 quid Chloe bag.

They were on the table next to us and came in the same time. They kept saying how lovely it was and how quick the service was. They had virtually the same as us. Their bill came to £16 - they paid with a twenty. They kept the change. The bloke said what about a tip. The woman said "that'll do, she's only young".

When they left they put 40p on the table for the waitress

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 06/04/2008 19:55

I am so glad you shared, it's nice to share and so much karma comes from sharing

40p is an insult - it is much worse than not leaving a penny - patronizing old boot.

scottishmummy · 06/04/2008 19:55

indeed will that extra £1.20 propel the waitress towards property ownership

how smug that your tip was acceptable
that someone else bag unacceptable
bizzare to even notice a stranger's accessories

scottishmummy · 06/04/2008 19:56

in fact it was £1.60

MissyTheFlouncer · 06/04/2008 19:56

omg st albans is soooo near me i love the waffle house!

LaComtesse · 06/04/2008 20:00

I don't tip in cafes and not always in resturants, depending on the service I get. She may have been given the bag or borrowed it from a friend. I wouldn't recognise a £800 Chloe bag if I tripped over one. I think you are being a tad UR.

£5.25ph sounds quite reasonable to me for a job that is probably part-time (it would probably be more on a Sunday anyway). It'll make an amusing story for the girl later on.

scottishmummy · 06/04/2008 20:01

next time i am in harpenden i must go to the waffle house st albans

LaComtesse · 06/04/2008 20:03

Don't forget your £2 tip .

jackeybauer · 06/04/2008 20:03

LaComtesse thanks for another laugh - god what world do you live in!!! It's ok to earn min wage if you only work part-time what - is the cost of living lower if you work part-time???

Also funny that some posters are worried about poor rich people being slagged off - it's just so prejudiced...

Rich people have all the advantages in life, don't think they really need protection from a bit of a rant!!!

Mumsnet is an alternative universe at times..

SmoothandWilkie · 06/04/2008 20:03

And leave your Chloe bag at home!!!!!!!!!!!

scottishmummy · 06/04/2008 20:04

or my chloe bag

scottishmummy · 06/04/2008 20:05

not worried about rich/poor. troubled by gross social stereotyping and inverted snobbery

hatrick · 06/04/2008 20:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

suzi2 · 06/04/2008 20:07

YABU and bloody rude IMO. You make so many assumptions. You assume they are rich because they are dressed/accessorised in expensive things. Also, their 'cottage' might be like the one we talk about at times - a £100 a week deal once a year through DHs work! They may not have had any more for a tip - perhaps the £4 was earmarked for something else and they couldn't afford to leave it for all you know.

Are the tables at this place really near each other and it's really quiet? I can't believe you could hear that much of their conversation. Pretty nosey I think.

I plenty of stingy people, rich and poor. I also know plenty of people that tip well when the service is crap and vice versa. It's a tip, not an essential.

Oh, and are you absolutely sure there wasn't another pound coin hiding under the edge of a saucer or something? Did you have a REALLY good look?

Mmmmmmmmmmm......... quite fancy some waffles now...

jackeybauer · 06/04/2008 20:07

Good for you SM - personally I think there are more important things in life to worry about.

Like real prejudice aimed at people in genuinely disadvantaged situations.

Swedes · 06/04/2008 20:13

This sounds like a bit of a tall story. I know a lot of wealthy 50 something women (in and around St Albans) but can't think of one that would buy a £800 Chloe bag.

scottishmummy · 06/04/2008 20:14

is it acceptable to be prejudicial to someone because they are prosperous?implied assumption made that all prosperous people are grasping gits,and the less well off are hardy, well meaning down trodden

Oh really?

here is a thought for you

some people are gits regardless of wealth, accessories

poverty does not necessarily make one altruistic

being prosperous does not make you nasty

tipping is discretionary

Lulumama · 06/04/2008 20:16

they'd clearly spent all their money on fancy clothes and handbags to be able to afford a tip

i cannot beleive you care that much to come back and describe them as scum and say you hate them

i thikn you need to get a Sense of Proportion

lots of people who look /sound wealthy might not be, the truly rich don;t bray about it

MissyTheFlouncer · 06/04/2008 20:19

do you think they will buy me a chloe bag

jackeybauer · 06/04/2008 20:20

SM - I'm not saying you're wrong - I just find it strange that you'd care.

Rich, successful people don't need protection from people who think they're idiots/selfish whatever.

On the tipping point, yeah tips are discretionary but it takes a certain kind of person not to tip properly someone who has done a good job of serving them.

IMO such a person does not need defending....

LaComtesse · 06/04/2008 20:20

JB - why is most of your vitriol being directed at me? I'm not the only one to comment on the alleged wages (maybe someone should visit this place and ask the waitress in question?). The employer will have costs to cover just to employ this girl and it's not the place of the company to have to worry about the girl's personal living situation and neither is it the job of heer customers to fret over it. If she can't cope on the money she's earning then she'll have to do what the rest of us do - get another job that pays more or get promoted to a role that pulls in more money, or claim tax credits as appropriate. Where I work, most of the staff earn about the same amount per hour and they do 37.5 hours a week. Saturdays they earn 1.5 and Sundays 2x the week-day rate. They don't get tips even of 40p and they also work in a service industry. If I were the girl, I'd be grateful for the job, any tips on top would be a bonus.

scottishmummy · 06/04/2008 20:21

thats my point i dont notice or care what other diners wear or tip.too busy perusing the menu for such diversions

Chequers · 06/04/2008 20:22

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Lauriefairycake · 06/04/2008 20:22

Yes, the tables unfortunately were only six inches apart - so I could see and hear everything without eavesdropping - yes, they really did leave a 40p tip.

And that cotswold cottage - they were complaining that they "thought they'd be lucky to get a million if they sold it now"

I was genuinely shocked at the tip and I did warn you that I thought I was being unreasonable with the rant - i really wanted the rant as well as the AIBU.

Almost calm now. Nothing like going to a Samaritans shift tonight to put your own life in perspective.

OP posts:
Saveme · 06/04/2008 20:23

Laurie, this is a wind-up, right?

WinkyWinkola · 06/04/2008 20:24

People who don't tip properly for good service are tight. Regardless of how wealthy they are.