Waiter Pays Bills With Verbal Tips

MIAMI, FL—Nearly broke and on the verge of eviction, Olive Garden waiter Stuart Tottle decided last week to cash in his substantial savings of service-related compliments and guest appreciation.

Tottle was able to cover his bills — rescuing all from “past due” or “shut off” status — and bring all but three completely up-to-date.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Tottle. “All my bills were coming due at the same time, and when I say ‘coming due,’ I mean I was already really late. I owed everybody...I was behind on my car payment, I had to pay back the money I borrowed from my parents, I was about to be evicted from my apartment, plus I’d been eating mac & cheese for weeks...that, and anything I could grab from work.

“We’ve been busy at work, but the cash hasn’t been that great so I was really hurting. Then I remembered I had this huge balance in my verbal tip account, and I knew I was gonna be just fine.”

Tottle quickly began to tally up the verbal currency: “You’re an awesome server!” “I’ve eaten in a lot of restaurants, but you you are one of the best waiters I’ve ever had!” “That was a truly enjoyable dining experience, Stuart.” “Thank you for the excellent service.” “Next time we’re here, we’ll ask for you!” And so on.

As Tottle continued to organize his accumulated stash, he started the task of methodically hammering out the bills one by one.

“I was caught up in the excitement. First I got on the phone with some of the important bill collectors...I would’ve taken care of my landlord, Mr. Adams, first, but I wasn’t able to get a hold of him right away. Then, after the main ones were taken care of — like my car note, lights and gas, cell phone, stuff like that — I called the other ones, like my cable company, Blockbuster, and my parents.

“My parents are pretty much loaded anyway, but they were thrilled when I finally contacted them. I’d been avoiding their calls for months.”

What Tottle didn’t count on was that many of the bills were higher than he anticipated due to late fees, and he was rapidly running out of stored guest gratitude. He was forced to reevaluate the level of appreciation conveyed by specific guest comments.

“I had to analyze,” he said, “what, exactly, that table of teenagers meant when, after I asked them if everything was okay, they responded, ‘You didn’t suck.’”

Another example, according to Tottle, was when old Mr. Thompson said, “You forgot the whip cream for my dessert, jackass,” and his wife piped in, “Oh, now Henry. You really don’t need that extra whip cream anyway.” He said he thinks he may have read more value into her comment than maybe he should have.

“Normally, I would blow a small compliment like that off, but things were getting tight.”

Still, while the seemingly small verbal gestures — “That’s a very white shirt, young man” and “I would think you’d sweat more” — were adding up, Tottle had completely forgotten about his rent.

“I rent out a small apartment above Mr. Adams’ garage, and at the time I was like three months behind. When I couldn’t get a hold of him, and after I took care of all my other bills, I thought
of the rent and I was like, ‘Oh shit.’

“Then I remembered that I was Employee of the Month at Olive Garden in September, and even though they haven’t given cash awards in forever...still, I was Employee of the Month, the highest compliment you can get in our little world.

"I got on the phone with Mr. Adams and told him, and he was like, ‘Tottle, consider us even.’”

A small degree of apprehension remains regarding tax season, but Tottle feels he'll be okay. He places a lot of faith in a co-worker who “covers the gray areas on his tax return very nicely.” Tottle said the other waiter requires all the guests that stiff him or give him extremely low cash tips to sign a form stating the (lack of) tip amount in writing for the purpose of a deduction.