Hubby goes to the restroom, I leave momentarily to retrieve my purse from the car (we had locked it in the trunk while shopping and I was planning to pay for dinner on my card, not hubby's). Since we couldn't find said server, we both left our jackets, cigarretes and lighters, and Hubby's backpack unattended at the table so she would know we hadn't simply fled without paying.
I come back in with my purse to pay. I can hear our server SCREAMING in the rear dining area to a co-worker (or superior) that "THESE ASSHOLES WALKED OUT OF THE CHECK!!!! CALL THE F***ING COPS!!! THEY JUST F***ING LEFT!!!"
I stand at the register and wait to pay, debit card in hand. Hubby goes back to our seats and retrieves our items. The ranting and shrieking continues from the rear in the described fashion.
We unhurriedly don our jackets, and smile at several other patrons who are watching this with interest. I ring the small bell beside the counter. Screaming continues. No one comes to accept payment. Hubby and I are stifling giggles at this point.
"I QUIT!!!!! I'M TIRED OF BUSTING MY ASS AND GETTING STIFFED!!! I'M OUT!" Screams our server. She storms out of the rear, goes right past us, leaves, and slams the door behind her. She drives away. Silence falls.
An obviously-harried co-worker comes over (I don't know if this was the same person our server was screaming at) and accepted our payment without a word. Obviously, I left no gratuity.
What could induce someone to lose it like that, when our personal effects were still scattered in the booth? Our car was still parked right in front of the doors! In my days of serving, if I saw belongings and no customer, I would check the restrooms. Had she done this, she would have found Hubby and saved herself a job.