March 10, 2008

I’ve been a server at the Cracker Barrel Country Store in Nashville for a year and a half. I’d like to share a story, not just for your entertainment, but to grab your attention and make you aware of how some Pentecostals (I hope not you!) represent our faith.

Before I share, I want to declare that I am proud of my choice of faith and wouldn’t change it because of silly little situations like this one. I believe we know the truth as much as anyone can; we just need to do a better job of living it.

I’ve been fully convinced for quite sometime now that some Pentecostals are notorious for tipping poorly at restaurants, which provides the fire behind this article.

Post Youth Retreat

Tennessee Thanksgiving Youth Retreat was over. Messages delivered by Rev. Calvin Jean were stamped on the hearts of every Pentecostal youth who attended, and all were pumped up for new beginnings and laying down old pasts. On Friday afternoon, all the churches staying at the Opryland hotel checked out at about noon. I was scheduled to work at 4 p.m. Feeling ashamed and humiliated at the same time, on my way to work I silently prayed there would be no Pentecostal buses in the Cracker Barrel parking lot when I turned in.

But there was. Many employees I work with know I’m associated with the Pentecostals, but another silent prayer hoped they had forgotten. Was this wrong for me to pray? I walked into the kitchen and my server friend Sandra was mad almost to the point of tears. She had a sirloin steak in her hand and was talking to my manager, low enough for guests not to hear, but loud enough for me to know she was raging inside. Here’s what she told me:

Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Spicy Grilled Catfish

About 25 people in a group came in to dine. There were only two adults above the age of 21. Sandra took their orders. The man stormed out because Sandra told him that Cracker Barrel doesn’t have chocolate chip pancakes. One of the young girls ordered spicy grilled catfish. It wasn’t cooked the way she liked, so halfway through her meal she decided to order a sirloin instead.

During the meal Sandra was committed to keeping everybody’s drinks filled up, both out of courtesy and in hopes of a decent tip, the natural thought of all servers. When the sirloin came out not long after it was ordered, the young girl refused to eat a pricey steak grilled just for her because it came out later than she had anticipated. The others were beginning to finish up. She didn’t eat the fish or the steak, so she, of course, didn’t expect to pay for any of it.

This is when I walked in for work. Ashamed, I didn’t tell a soul that I knew any of those people, when I actually did know a handful. It is obvious that they are “my people” because I wear a skirt to work everyday. (At that moment I wished I had on pants.) I was relieved when Sandra talked to me like she always would and shared her frustration. Even though I’d help anyway, I felt obligated to assist Sandra in cleaning the dirtied tables. As a group, they left $18 as a tip. Pretty good tip if it weren’t a party of 25! Not even a dollar a person! (Seventy-two cents, to be exact.)

Eat and Drink to the Glory of God

Is this how we plan on shining our light? Are we aware of the possibility that servers from all around might pass off a table because a lady with poofy hair and a self-righteous attitude sits at their station? What a shame. We have to do something! This is against every moral value we’ve been taught from our beginnings in Sunday School. We need to pay attention to this Bible verse—“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31).

It is vital that all Pentecostals be aware of incidences such as this one and do everything within our power to prevent it from happening again.

ninetyandnine.com

© 2008, Charlene Guidry

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Charlene Guidry attends First Church in Nashville, TN where she is part of the Bible Quiz Team and the youth and adult choirs.  She plans to be a nurse and will attend Aquinas College this fall.  She collects bouncy balls and juggles. She also degreases French fries one at a time.