Iowa Waitress Speaks Out: I Didn’t Get Tip From Clinton, Media Has Misplaced Priorities
For the past week, Anita Esterday’s life has been turned upside down. A single mother of two, she found herself in the middle of a media circus when it was reported that Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign failed to leave her a tip after they were waited on at a Maid-Rite in Toledo, Iowa. In the ensuing frenzy, the Maid-Rite manager insisted that a tip was, in fact, left. But Esterday says the manager just told a fib to make the attention go away. And the press, she adds, needs to get a perspective on what actually matters. Esterday took time to answer questions from the Huffington Post.
Huffington Post: What is it like to be in the middle of a campaign-related media frenzy?
Esterday: It is nuts. Even going on the web for anything. There was a website in Cedar Rapids that said I had committed suicide. I understand that whoever wrote this meant it as a joke, but I have family in Cedar Rapids and I know people in Cedar Rapids and my mother committed suicide. So it wasn’t a joke to me… It’s taking it to an extreme and I guess in America now that’s what people like and it’s a shame that the media ran with this.
Does the press have misplaced priorities?
In this country, look at how many homeless people there are. There are millions. There are people just like me. I’m not the only parent who has had to raise two kids and barely makes $20,000 a year… This is supposed to be the United States of America, the strongest nation in the world, and we can’t even provide places for our homeless. The media should be focusing on that.
Point taken. But could you set the record straight about the tip?
And while you libs are whining about the millions of homeless, how about bitching about one of the major causes – inflation. Bernenke just finished a speech and Q&A at the Cato institute yesterday in which he said the same old shit – keep inflation under control. Inflation causes homelessness, union strikes, and a bloated govt which has way too much power.
Comment by grimgold — November 14, 2007 @ 5:02 pm
What EASIER way to make a scandal than for a waitperson to CLAIM they weren’t tipped?
She should be fired. I know I would have been fired if I had DARED to complain to ANYONE except my fellow servers that someone had stiffed ME. And I waited tables for about twenty years.
How do we know she wasn’t tipped–except that she SAID she wasn’t tipped? Why on earth would I trust her word for this as fact? Again, the real problem for the campaign is this–do it on paper. Keep a paper trail. Of course, they’ve learned that one by now.
How do we know this woman isn’t a Hillary-hating Red State Bible-thumper? Who is she? And why didn’t she get fired for complaining about not getting tipped? And why wasn’t the TIP INCLUDED in a large party, which I would assume a $157 bill would have provided for?
I don’t know what really happened, but the possibilities that haven’t been addressed speak louder than the ones that have been. “Why would I lie about not getting a tip?” she told NPR. She also maintained that her co-workers at the restaurant had not received tips.
Something stinks here. An entire restaurant of wait staff who ALL got stiffed? Sounds like bullshit to me, and I’m an old pro.
I’m not defending Hillary…she isn’t even the issue. She doesn’t pay the bill. But there are so many fucking holes in this story, it’s an old piece of Swiss cheese, as far as I’m concerned.
Comment by Daddy-O — November 15, 2007 @ 2:47 am
You can’t complain to anyone except your fellow wait staff about a stiff. Not only is it forbidden by any restaurant owner/manager in existence, it’s unprofessional. Period!
You MIGHT complain to your boss, but they’re not real sympathetic.
You CAN’T complain to the CUSTOMER–which is exactly what this woman did, through the MEDIA.
Finally: That waitress was wrong. The Clinton campaign DID leave a tip.
The restaurant manager, Brad Crawford, confirmed in interviews, including with The New York Times, that Mrs. Clinton, of New York, and her retinue had indeed left a tip, though he did not say how much…
Reached at her home in Iowa, the waitress, Anita Esterday, said that neither she nor a colleague who helped serve Mrs. Clinton recalled seeing any tip.
She said a local staff member of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign was in the restaurant on Thursday to tell them that the campaign had left a tip.
She said that when she and her colleague said they had not seen a tip, the staff member gave each of them $20.
Wow. It looks like that smarmy restaurant manager stole their tip. What a shock. Either that, or the waitress is lying.
Facts and information. Not always equal…
The above were comments I left at the Daily Kos comments section at the link for this story.
Comment by Daddy-O — November 15, 2007 @ 2:51 am
I too waited tables for many years, and this story is bogus. I would be very surprised if the bill was not paid by credit card. This is the usual procedure for business groups because it makes it much easier to track expenses and reimbursements. Now, it may be the case that the Clinton staffer who put the bill on his/her card did not enter a tip because, like me, that person may have felt it would be better to leave a cash tip. This is commonly understood to increase the value of the tip by making it possible for the waiter or waitress to stiff Uncle Sam on the taxes. But the first place to look at this is the credit card slip. My guess is that the manager is the Bush loving Republican; that he stole the tip; that he tipped off the media about the waitresses complaining; and that he’s lying through his teeth about the entire matter.
I also beg to differ that you can’t complain to a customer about being stiffed. I’ve done it, and my boss has supported it because she knew that she couldn’t keep good wait staff if cheapskate swine were allowed to ride on the coattails of good customers who played by the rules. Don’t know the rule? Here’s the rule: We allow you to participate in setting the final price of your meal by paying the wait staff sub-minimum wage, thus letting you the customer determine the level of compensation for service rendered. That does not mean you should expect to receive service for free simply because you can’t afford the customary tip. If you can’t afford to tip, stay home or eat at a fast food place where you serve yourself.
Let’s not jump too hard on the waitress until we have some facts. She did not get a tip until a Clinton staffer returned to the restaurant to rectify the matter. The two waitresses each got $20 in the end, which is more than a 20% tip on the total bill. In Iowa, that’s better than average by a long shot. What happened to the original tip? That remains to be seen. Could have been a mix-up by the staff, where one person was taking care of the bill and another was assumed to be leaving the tip. The tip could have been stolen by any number of people from a member of the entourage (including the press) to a fellow employee with a political agenda, to a manager just seeking notoriety or a collector’s item. But to start pounding on the waitress is just plain wrong.
Comment by Joanne from WI — November 17, 2007 @ 11:47 am