Rich Little Poor Tippers

I need to get a couple of things out of the way before I get to what this blog is really about, which will take up so little space that it will turn out not to be what this blog is really about. But it's why I started to write this, and is the perfect opportunity for me to kill two birds with one stone.

First of all, if you've never heard of tipping your server in a restaurant, or you don't have a concept as to why you should tip, or if you just don't feel a reason to tip, then I have some advice for you: Stay home or hit the drive-thru. There is a reason we tip those that give us a service. These workers get paid, get this, $2.17 an hour. That's it. They survive off the tips they should receive for providing you a service. If you are too cheap or too ignorant to tip your server then you don't deserve to go to a sit down restaurant. And don't you dare complain about the bad service you get when you return, because you will be remembered and your service will suck because you deserve it. It's theft of a service. Thief. Ignorant thief. Slave labor was abolished long ago.

My boyfriend works in a popular Atlanta restaurant. I've worked in several, so I know how it is, but he has honed his craft to where he ends up the best employee wherever he goes. I couldn't make a career of it, but I never got into management. His restaurant has become a favorite of celebrities, as more and more filming is being done in and around town. I could compose an entire blog about what celebs hit the mark when it comes to tipping (Erykah Badu, kids from Vampire Diaries) and who surprisingly seem clueless to the concept (Solange Knowles, Real Housewives). But I'll be getting back to those housewives in a minute.

The second bird in my sights today is the bastardization of hollywood. I won't even capitalize the word anymore. I talk specifically about the growing plague of people who are famous for nothing at all, or worse, for bad behavior. It's even worse with their attitude that they actually deserve their fame and to be treated special. Instead of considering that their notoriety brings any responsibility to be good people and set an example for our youth, they seem to think they have some sort of carte blanche to act a fool. Urinating behind the bar of a nightclub, fistfights, catfights, screaming matches, parading your children for your benefit. These are not the actions of rational, mature adults, but of spoiled brats who crave the most attention.

I think we should have a separate hollywood, hollywood beta or something. There we can put the folks that are really just folks who happen to be on television and will very soon just be folks again. This sets up the return of proper Hollywood with, classy or not, people who actually work to entertain us. The other hollywood is where we can also send all the crazed tabloid paparazzi so they can hound and hunt down and kill in tunnels the wannabes/neverbes.

As I said, celebrities often visit my boyfriend's restaurant, and so do the Real Housewives of Atlanta. On their most recent visit, though, they were filming for their new season. Everyone had to sign releases in case they are in the shot. Soooo, now I have no choice but to set my DVR to record this damn show on the off-chance he will show up in an episode. At least there's fast forward. If you watch the show, come back after the season starts and I'll report on whether or not he made the cut. I can guarantee you one thing you won't be seeing, a server happily counting his or her money after they leave.