Poor guy

At this point I'm working at a Red Lobster. I get sat with a young couple. Maybe 16-17 years old. Polite, nice, but as other servers will confirm, I immediately knew that I wasn't going to make much, if anything, from these two. I greet them. They're good. He's happy. She's happy.

I ask about a drink order. She orders a $6 non-alcoholic foo-foo drink. He gulps; orders a water. I bring the drinks, and she asks for a $10 appetizer. Ok, no problem. I can see the worry start to set in on my man's face. I put the appetizer order in and come back for the entree order. She orders the most expensive meal on the menu, at about $28 dollars. I look over at this kid, and I can see the math going on in his head. It's like that part in the Hangover where Zach Galifianakis' character is counting cards. I can see the numbers going through his head. He's worried that he won't have enough to cover dinner, let alone the rest of the date.

I can totally pick up that this is their first date. She's soaking him for every penny. I feel for him. At this point, he says that he doesn't want anything, I tell him that I can hook him up and get him lunch menu prices. He elects for the lunch portion of the crab linguine, which clocks in at $5. He's beginning to sweat at this point and I feel so bad for him.

She thankfully doesn't order dessert. I didn't offer, because I thought he might stroke out at the table right in front of me, if I did. I drop the bill, it's like mid-fifties with tax. I get squat, nada, nothing. I knew it. It's ok. I just hope he got to first base really. She was taking him to town. I wish I could've seen where they went afterwards. Poor guy. He probably dropped a whole weeks pay that night.

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