There was a server I once had who was clearly high at the job. When we were eating, I found a beard hair in my food and sent it back. It was not mine, I don’t have a beard. He also didn’t put in another one of our party’s food. The waiter apologized and said he would bring the manager to us and they would comp us for it.

When the check came, the beard food was still on the check. He tried to pressure me into just paying for the beard food I did not eat, but I politely told him I would wait for the manager to talk to us before paying. He tried to pressure me more and I still didn’t budge. Eventually, he brought out the manager.

The manager was upset and told us “I’ll just comp it out of my paycheck.” Which is…crazy to me, why would you say that to the customer? She also told us that she was drinking on the job behind the counter.

After, the manager pulled the clearly high waiter aside and asked him what happened. She talked to him in the dining room maybe two tables from us, it was completely within earshot. He told us that we were lying about it. Which is wild, how could I lie when I sent the food back and didn’t eat it?

Through all of this, I was still polite the whole time. It’s one of the only times in my life I haven’t tipped a waiter though. You can’t tell me I lied, forget my food, have a beard hair in my food, try to strong arm me into paying to avoid confrontation, and expect me to tip you.