"The balancing act plays out every day in restaurants across America: Servers who rely on tips decide where to draw the line when a customer goes too far.
They ignore comments about their bodies, laugh off proposals for dates and deflect behavior that makes them uncomfortable or angry — all in pursuit of the $2 or $20 tip that will help buy groceries or pay the rent.
There was the young server at a burger joint in Georgia, Emmallie Heard, whose customer held her tip money in his hand and said, 'So you gonna give me your number?' She wrote it down, but changed one of the digits.
There was the waitress in Portland, Ore., Whitney Edmunds, who swallowed her anger when a man patted his lap and beckoned her to sit, saying, 'I’m a great tipper.'
And at a steakhouse in Gonzales, La., Jaime Brittain stammered and walked away when a group of men offered a $30 tip if she’d answer a question about her pubic hair. She returned and provided a 'snappy answer' that earned her the tip, but acknowledges having mixed feelings about the episode.
'Literally every time it happens, I will have this inner monologue with myself: ‘Is this worth saying something, or is it not?’' said Ashley Maina-Lowe, a longtime server and bartender in Tucson. 'Most of the time I say, ‘No, it’s not worth it.’'”
