Not "taking sides" here, just stating facts. Went to a mall yesterday. Went to have a sit down solo lunch Got seated by the hostess (who stayed within my eye shot the entire time, due to the location she put me in in a section near a back./side wall, the only person in the entire section, despite the main section of the restaurant having PLENTY of seating left, and people continually seated there AFTER I had been seated. Maybe it's because I had a folding Roilator, she wanted me to be "out of the way" instead of figuring how/where to put it? I dunno. I sat there for 20 minutes patiently waiting, nobody approached the able to take a drink order, and certainly not a lunch order. I finally had to say "hello" numerous times to the hostess, told her nobody had come. She disappeared for another 10 minutes, and finally a young girl came out. She was nice, but told me she was "new here". Took my drink and lunch order. 20 minutes later I still had no drink, but a "runner" had brought out my lunch order. My mouth was full of salad from the self-serve salad bar, so I could not communicate to the runner I was missing my requested mustard for my burger, and I also did NOT order the fries on the burger plate, I was subbing the salad bar for that. At least another 5-10 minutes later, my server appeared with my drink order (FINALLY - it was JUST a Coke Zero, nothing that would have been held up at the bar making it!), and a dish of HONEY mustard - BI*G difference, and I don't LIKE honey mustard, it's too sweet, but I decided to just not waste any more time at this point, and just eat it. I also had to ask the hostess to send my server over for the check, and never got checked on again, until it was presented, or offered a drink refill until then.
The point to that story is I still tipped 10% - normally I would tip 18-20% for a sit down meal. I was always told by people in the service industry that if you tip NOTHING after a bad experience, the wait staff will probably just blow it off, thinking your''re a rude jerk. A SMALL tip will hopefully let them know they are still appreciated, but service was NOT good. (Which they knew, since I had to ask the hostess for attention several times). I also did not want to deflate the young server on her first day, and since I don't know if maybe the hostess didn't TELL her I was over in that empty section, didn't want to "blame" something on her that wasn't her fault, or try to suss out whose fault it actually was - too much time out, drama, and bad karma to let me ruin my day like that. I DO hope ALL concerned treat the next customer much better.
Drastically diverse from that, I had a very POSITIVE experience in the Apple Store, looking at phones. I have never had an Apple phone before, and am VERY much a neophyte at phones in general. The young man that helped me was kind, informative (and yet didn't make me fell like I was an idiot!), and even offered some tips and advice for possibly changing cell phone carriers in the future. I did not tip, of course, but DID ask to speak to a manager before I left, to compliment the young man to his boss. I'm quite sure it meant a lot to him, because both he, and his boss, were beaming when I left. So - I think - priceless
Again - not entering a debate - just reporting 2 experiences, "a day in my life", and commenting on how I think it's important to treat other humans - especially those in a "service, or public service" position - with kindness,understanding, respect, and give them sense of validation, and valuation. With, or without, money being involved.
