Mr. Smarty Pants

Gift Cards.
I love gift cards.

The Preacher Man and I recently obtained a gift card to Olive Garden Italiano. After a busy week we were excited to seek out some good ol' family time and put it to use. Friday nights around the Preacher Man parsonage are notorious for having unexpected visitors. I often think, "This Friday night we are all gonna get our jammies on and snuggle on the couch for a movie...." Then I quickly remember that's impossible, unless we call it a slumber party and invite the whole neighborhood. So, when we have a Friday evening free we typically find someplace to go. This particular Friday our gift card swayed us to the realms of Olive Garden.

We had a great meal. I had the usual soup, salad, and breadsticks. Preacher Man and Ruthie-girl did their usual thing too, they tried something off the menu they've never tried before. That is just how the Preacher Man rolls.

After our meal the server brought our ticket to the table and it read $24.83.
Our gift card was for $25, we couldn't have come any closer!
We slipped the card into the black folder and away Mr. Olive Garden went.

As he was gone we began to gather his tip, only to realize we were cashless. I had given the last bit of cash to the Preacher Man for our gas. I remembered I had $1 in the car, but that wasn't enough. We began picking our brains to figure out what we were going to do.

Could he scan our plastic just for a tip?
Should the Preacher Man go find an ATM and bring his tip back?
I guess we could buy a bottle of the Bellini Tea to take home with us...
Or we could just order dessert and leave the tip then...

As these things flooded our minds, we decided to go with the dessert option. We order our Black Tie bliss and a cup of coffee and received yet another ticket. This time we sent our plastic on it's way and waited for Mr. OG's arrival.

Let's take a quick Zack Morris Time-out and fill you in on Mr. OG.
I think his name was actually Robert.
He was a...
A little different.
Ok, he was A LOT different.
He said "SWEET!" after EVERYTHING.
Each time he said "SWEET!" it became more and more high pitched.
He told us 21536 stories about his nephew and his new truck.
He kinda drove us nuts...
However, he provided good service therefore he deserved a good tip...

Mr. OG, ok I will call him Rob, came back to the table and our conversation went a little something like this...

Rob: Do you guys have another form of payment?
Me: No (laughing) Why?
Preacher Man: Is something wrong?
Rob: Well, it looks like we might just have to put the little one to work.
Us: Ha ha, yeah, go ahead. She can wash dishes but she'll probably break a few.
*Everyone laughing*
Rob: No, really do you have another form of payment?
PM: Did our card not work?
Rob: Nope, it sure didn't.
Me: Whatever. He's kidding.
Rob: Ok, whatever.
Me: Preacher Man it had to go through.
(at this point it was becoming awkward. But, I balance the account I knew the money situation and I was really confused why some stranger would be so persistant to consider someones finances a "joke"...).
PM: Ok, so the card didn't work?
Rob: No, what are you going to do?
Me: Seriously, whatever. It worked...
Rob: (laughing) Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, I like how you believed me! and your wife knew I was kidding. (more laughing)

Needless to say we weren't laughing.
The Preacher Man wanted to just leave him that dollar I had out in the car.
Did this man really think it was appropriate to make such a spectacle out of us?
Because I know the other diners around had their ears perked when they thought our car had been declined. It didn't bother me at the time, but after we left I realized how embarassing it would have been had he been serious. I guess he wouldn't have been so loud and obnoxious had he been serious...

Sheesh.
Maybe Olive Garden needs to teach their servers some Dining Etiquette...
And, maybe we should have left Robert a buck to teach him a lesson.
But we didn't.
We tipped him well and went about our Friday Family Fun.
And, thanked the Lord that we have money for food.