Sneaky!!!

So, we went out to lunch for the baby shower I spoke of previously. We each paid for our own lunch. I had cash, and another coworker paid cash also. When the waitress brought our change, she didn’t bring the change. Basically, my coworker was owed some dollars and 85 cents. (I don’t know exactly how much.) The waitress only brought the dollars. Okay, maybe it is a fluke. I owed $10.66. I gave her $15 and asked for change. (I am not going to give a $4 tip on a $10 ticket.) She only brought me 4 dollar bills, no 34 cents. So, where did that $1.19 go? Did she pocket it? Is she bad at math and just doesn’t calculate change? Does she think that we will not notice? Is this a company policy? Is it in effect with everyone that pays cash or only large parties to make sure that she gets a decent tip? And what if I had paid with a credit card? I don’t know that I would have trusted her with it, to not add more to the tip than I originally planned. As a reaction to this theft (and it is theft, it was my 34 cents, not hers), she got a smaller tip than I would have originally given her. I honestly thought about only leaving a dollar on top of the 34 cents she previously pocketed, which would give her a little over 10%. Instead, I combined my tip with the coworker she also gipped, and she got less money from us together. But, with the 1.19 she already pocketed, she made close to if not over 20%. I should have only left the dollar. Or a note. “Your tip is the 34 cents you already stole. Rethink your policy.” Let’s say that during her shift she covers 25 tables. Of those 25, 10 pay cash. Of those 10, if she gets .59 cents (1.19 divided by 2), she just made an extra $5.90 for the shift. Plus the other tips. Over a 5 day work week, that’s an extra $29.50. In a month, almost $120. I guess it is worth it to her. If most people don’t notice and lower her tip accordingly that is. When I called the restaurant later, the manager was rather shocked. She said that some waitresses will round, but it is always in favor of the customer. Instead of 98 cents, they get a dollar back. This makes sense. But the manager said that she would talk to her employees and make sure it isn’t happening a lot. Otherwise, it was a very fine lunch and very tasty. I had Wahoo (it’s a fish), also called Ono, and it was amazing. (And I am not a fish eater!)