Change Please?

At the beginning of one of my recent straight pool matches, I needed change for a $20 so I could tip the waitress a dollar for my free water and also have a five dollar bill for my league dues. The new waitress pleasantly obliged.

I would find out later from one of the regular waitresses that my waitress thinks I'm mad at her.

What? Why?

OMG. Really?

I barely spoke to her and didn't order anything but a water so far. Yea, and I'm losing my straight pool match badly, but I didn't take it out on her. I didn't SPEAK to her.

Wow.

Later on that night after dinner and a few drinks (yes, I was very pleasant to her), I gave my waitress a hundred dollar bill to pay my nights' tab. (Can you tell I just came from a casino over the weekend - I had no small bills!)

I didn't know what my total was, as I gave her the hundred before I saw my tab and simply told her "Can I pay my tab please?" She comes back over and lays down "the change" and says "Thanks, Melinda, hope your night gets better."

I sit there a few minutes jabbering with a couple of friends and decide to count my change. And the amount of money sitting in front of me is $100. Yep, change for $100. Four 20s, a 10, a 5 and five 1s.

What?

I call the new waitress over, "um, I wanted to pay my bill with the hundred."

"You did," she replies back to me.

"But I have $100 in change here. "

She stands there, just looking at me.

So I count the money out for her so it makes more sense, "20, 40, 60, 80, 90, 95, 96, 97..."

"Oh, ok, I'm sorry! I'll be right back."

Of course my friends are watching this show down.

She comes back and tells me my bill was $41. So she puts my change down on the table and I pick it up to count it.

And now I'm $5 short. I'm confusing myself. Let's see, 100-41 is ? Yep, I only have $54 in front of me.

I call her back over, "Um, you still owe me $5."

You aren't going to beleive this, but I have to count the money again in front of her to prove I'm now $5 short, when I just helped her by not just taking the $100 "change."

She gives me the $5 and apologies yet again and adds, "this is my first mistake, I am so sorry."

Huh? Really?

I'm thinking to myself, "damn, you're a lucky woman then." Even tho it's obvious she made a few mistakes this night just with my change.

One of the guys sitting at my table tells me, "she's fortunate you are honest or that you didn't just put the "change" in your purse or else she'd be out $41."

I suppose so.

I'm picking on this new waitress with this blog and I'm sure she will be great in the long run but don't be nervous around me. I'm a good patron. We'll figure this out together.