According to Restaurant Workers, After Church Christians are the Worst to Serve
I often eat at our local restaurants in the Greenville areas
such as Cracker Barrel, Applebee’s, Ruby Tuesday, K&W Cafeteria and others several
times a week where, as time permits, I usually have a book on Biblical textual
criticism, ancient Near Eastern studies or, when I get tired that genre of
study, I’m reading electronics.
It’s not unusual for my waiter or waitress to ask, “What are
you reading?” When I show them the
book’s title (if it’s something related to Biblical studies), they will ask me
either: A) “Are you a Christian? or B) What church do you
attend? When I tell them (respectively) that, “I’m not.” and “I don’t.”, at which time many often relate
to me (without asking) their experiences in dealing with the after church crowds
on Sunday afternoon and (around Baptist
Greenville) Sunday nights too.
Since the real factor that keeps people coming to Sunday
school and church is socializing, most Christians get up Sunday morning (after
a short sleep in) and rush off to sit at some boring pre-canned Sunday school
lesson then head straight into the hour long Worship Service where they are
often told how worthless they are as sinners, but not so worthless that God needs all
Saved Sinners to give tithes and offerings so he can stay in power.
When the Benediction is finally given (with penitence being
done by having suffered for two hours), there is a mad rush to the parking lot with
many of the congregation heading out to eat; by now with low blood sugar and a
chip on their religious shoulders.
Arriving at their local favorite restaurant, Mr. and Mrs.
Christian (with kids in tow) find that they were beat there by several
other other churches that were either nearer the restaurant or because their
preacher was not as long winded. Now
someone has got to pay!
Over the years, restaurant food servers that I've gotten to
know have told me that this Christian Sunday crowd is - without a doubt - the hardest
to deal with. For one, compared with the
average customer, they tend to be highly critical of the food (much like their
God, as little makes them happy), often sending items back to the kitchen or
wanting a discount due to poor food quality and service. This problem is often amplified when
groups of ten or more Christians meet up and push tables together, thus tying up two or
more waiters or waitresses for over an hour.
Finally (and all too often) when the Sunday church crowd leaves, there is one of three things left: A. A total of one or two dollars left as a tip, especially when a church
crowd all sat together. B. No tip was
left at all. C. Adding insult to injury, no tip was left,
but a Gospel Tract was.
While I've never worked as a waiter, I can always tell it’s
Sunday in Greenville because the men’s restroom has about three or four Gospel Tracts placed around the room from toilet stalls to urinal tops to the wash
basins (usually these are the corny comic booklet Chick Tracts).
Ironically, it’s like these church crowds caught hell at
worship and now it’s time to make other suffer too!
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