1) Do you police every thread for potentially off-topic comments?

Actually the server was pleasant. Not good at his job, but pleasant.

I think there are more options than just letting the plates sit there.

So sh1tty I left him a 15% tip for not doing his job.

Same way servers survive the customer weirdness described here. Two way street.

Yeah, taking someone to a restaurant for their birthday is really crummy and totally not what good people do.

I never said I went looking for him. I called him over.

I just want to make sure I understand: It's OK for servers to let the dirty dishes accumulate? To serve dessert and/or coffee in the midst of dirty dishes? This is what customers should expect?

We didn't make him come back for another order, he just assumed we were done and laid the check on the table. Usually a server asks if you want anything else before doing that. If we *had* ordered dessert or coffee, there would have been literally nowhere to put it, that's how crowded the table was. And why are you…

Really? Why? Is clearing dirty plates not part of a server's job?

Never really being sure if people like you for who you are or just because you're pretty. I guess. Seems worth it, though.

Just to share a story about a bad server I had last week. He brought us the bill without checking whether we wanted anything more (the kids had ordered sundaes but the adults hadn't really decided on coffee or dessert either way), while the table was LITTERED with dirty plates, from two courses. I had a gift to hand…

There is an Alice Munro story about a man and woman who almost do it in some woods, not realizing until later that they would have done it in/on poison ivy, and would have had major explaining to do afterwards (the man was married).

Did she actually say "too ethnic"? I'd be up on harassment charges if I said something like that at work.

I looked up this video, my first time being exposed to Lily Allen's music, style, etc.

I didn't know that statistic about children dying, but none of what you say surprises me. The thing is, my sister absolutely will NOT hear anything against her parenting, choice of boyfriends, or anything really. I know from past experience. Plus, our family is SUPER dysfunctional and in deep denial, so none of…

She talked about the patches! I couldn't really follow what she was saying, something about how if your MC wants to have certain things on its patches it has to have the approval of/be in good standing with the main MC body. Anyway, obviously she and her bf have spent time discussing it in detail, so... great.

Thanks. I *really* struggled not to eyeroll when she told me about how sad her bf gets when one of their fish dies. Yeah, a fish.

I agree. We generally accept that children should not be exposed to porn because it will interfere with their developing a healthy sexuality, that parents should model healthy eating so their children will learn that, that parents should work and not receive welfare so as to set a good example for their children to…

E.g. all the pillar-of-the-community types who turn out to be child molesters.