Every now and then I'll let it slip to a table that I'm still in school. I like to do it casually rather than blurting it out like I've heard other do.
There's a pretty even divide of people who work at (insert real name here) that go to school and don't go to school. There's a few like me who have been doing the post secondary thing for the better part of a decade, career students if you will, kind of like Van Wilder but not at all like Van Wilder:
Mentioning to my tables that I'm in school serves two purposes:
- It let's them know I'm a "starving student" and, hopefully, makes me a bigger tip
- It opens up the door to my favourite conversation topic: me.
Cheap trick? Perhaps. More tips? Not always. But it doesn't hurt. Now before you pass judgement, let me tell you a story of a friend of mine and how he takes the art of subconscious trickery to a whole new level. For the sake of anonymity I won't tell you his name or the place he works but I will tell you a little trick he plays.
This friend of mine, we'll call him Chet, has been a server for a few years. Every now and then Chet likes to let his table know that he is a single dad with two children. Fact of the matter is Chet still lives at home with his parents and these children he speaks of are non-existent.
Here's how he does it:
Table: Sorry for the mess.
Chet: *Laugh* Aw this is nothing, you should see the mess my kids make.
Boom! Instant boost in tip. Chet is also a nanny, or a man nanny... a manny. So if he has to tell a story about his "kids" he has a bevy of anecdotes all set to go.
A tip of the hat to Chet I say.
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