The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-22
POL|TENESS PAYS,
SAYS CAFE OWNER
Got Start by Being COurte-
Gus While a Waiter
THE OTHERS LAUGHED
Waiter Was Polite to Unprepossessing
Customer Who Didn't Tip Him.
Received Check FOR $50 After
Old Fellow Left
THE OTHERS LAUGHED

The. proprietor OF successful down
town daylight eating place was doing
the talking. SAYS the New York sun. ono
of his admiring customers had said
something to him about his lnvariahle
poiiteness to all comers.
We'll" he said half apologeticslly, II
guess | am polite, but it is not my
fault. You see. it is easier for me to be
that way than any other. I'm no scrap
per. and the way TO avoid scraps is not
to brush the fur the wrong way.
Sometimes think am too polite and
| ought TO bang somebody in the face
instead of passing out the pleasing smile,
but what's the good of that? I'd not
only lose a customer but I might get
licked besides. I've been polite not be-
cause l felt that owed it to other
people, but because I owed 1t to my
self
Most of them don't think about 1t,
don't appreciate it. lots of them, / sup
pose, but l. know I feel better when |
remember that I smoothed somebody out
instead of ruffling them up. Then po-
likeness pays. though 1 was polite be-
fore l ever thought OF the pay part of
it. Listen.
The Polite Waiter
'1en years ago l was a waiter in a
swagger place uptown, of the finest,
but not "a lobster palace. Tips were
plenty, for the trade was fashionable,
and the walters soon got the habit of look
Ing for customers who were sure to
shake down well. If customer didn't
remember the waiter the waiter soon for
got him. I'll admit l wasn't much diff
ferent from the others, but l wasn't rude
about 1t, and I tried to be as polite to
flsax .arfx, n
who tipped me a dollar. / averaged 1t
up, you see, and called 1t IS cents from
each one.
well. there was an old fellow who
came in one day who looked like he had
got into the wrong place. Nobody wanted
him, but somebody got him, and he wasn't
easy to wait on. His bill was 81 and he
tipped 10 per cent. I used to think that
was fair enough, but the other walters
thought it was bad form for anybody
to tip less than quarter, and the old
chap, who began to come In every day,
was handled like a bale OF rags.
II kept clear of him for a week. and
then got him because nobody else would
have him. BY that time I was feeling
kind of sorry for him. that's the way
always do, and I treated him like I
would Pittsburger. He seemed to ap-
preciate 1t, but he tipped me only his
usual 10 per cent. Some of the walters
gave me the laugh when they saw the
tip for the polteness I had handed out
with his meal, and next time when he
came and called for me they simply haw-
hawed at me.
well. got that old fellow every day
for month, but he was always polite.
and / thought | would give him as good
as he sent, which / did Every time he
came in I got sendoff from the other
walters, but l didn'tycare. l was getting
used to it.
"One day he didn't show up, and the
gang asked me If j was going to pay
his funeral expenses out of the tips he had
given me. i didn't know but what l
might have to, but about a week after
he had left the manager called me in and
gave me letter. 1t was from my late
customer, and there was a check in it for
$50 as a mark of his appreciation, he
wrote. OF my courtesy when I knew /
wasn't getting any pay for it. You ought
to have seen the others when pulled that
check on them and told them where It
came from and why got Il.
And that isn't all. He had talk
with the manager about me and then
asked me to come to his office and see
him. 1t was down in this neighborhood,
and inside of the next six months / had
the capital to start this place, and the
old fellow ate here and brought his rich
friends here. and ] have never had any
cause to complain about being polite to
people. even If / don't know who they
are.
He's dead now, rest his soul, and il I
ever feel like being inpolite 1 think of
him and smile and don't feel that way
any longer. See?"