You want a tip? Here's your tip...

Recently I went out for dinner and drinks with two lady friends, and because they are vegetarian our dinner options were somewhat limited. We ended up at the Tube, this divey little hipster bar downtown that calls to mind an AirStream trailer, as it is one small room that hums and echoes with a pull-out-bed style bench along one wall along a line of tables. Completely freezing in there. I realized, as mentioned earlier, that I forgot my IDs so my ass went crawling back home to dig them up.

When I return, the girls are just receiving their food so I ask for a menu thinking I might get something quick, or an appetizer. The boy in shants brings the menu begrudgingly, and flees the scene. I'm wondering whats up, the air is not very friendly and I keep getting ignored. I look at the menu, decide on something maybe, and try to catch someone's eye but still no luck. I decide that the food is too spendy and I'm already too late, so I consider getting a drink. Nobody comes by, and the girls are almost finished with their meals (which my starving ass has now devoured more than my share of) so I decide to put off ordering until we get to our next destination, where hopefully the service is a little better. The girls pay - $7 for a drink which I haven't seen since LA and after trying to decipher the garbled prices on the check, we feel confident that they have it all sufficiently worked out and we move on.

Annoyingly enough, I leave my ID behind on the table. When I realized it I run back to the bar, only to have the bartender give me a stony look and accuse us of not tipping enough. "You know, we don't have table service here. Were you dissatisfied with your food?"
"Look, lady. I didn't order any food or any drinks, yet I still threw money into the bill. You should have let me know that you don't have table service so I could have made an effort to scramble up to your tiny bar for my drink instead of thinking I was not hip enough for service at your establishment."

Sure, 2 dollars is less than 10% of a $23 check, but is it really worth asking me about? I didn't even have a drink and I clearly wanted something as I asked for a menu, would it have been asking too much for them to AT LEAST kindly let me know what I had to do just to get a stupid drink, or some food? Why do people not only feel they are entitled to a tip just for doing what they are paid to do, and nothing- NOTHING else? Why is it always the servers in the hipster bars that think they can throw attitude everywhere and still have people throwing money at them? Why would a pricey bar with 15 tables and no more than 3 barstools not have table service? If they don't intend to serve you a check at the end of the meal, then why don't they make you pay for it at the beginning? It's the most idiotic think ever, to tell me "we don't have table service, so why didn't you tip us more?" This marks my third time at the Tube, and I can't say I've ever had even a modestly decent time there.

I just really didn't understand. Honestly I feel like a lot of that night went right over my head.

I had a bang-up time at Portland City Grill however. Friendly service, good atmosphere, excellent mojitos, delicious and cheap food, happy hour from 10 to midnight on weekdays! The view from the 30th floor is pretty nice also.

Anyway, I just wanted to get that off my chest because I was thinking about it when I was lying in bed. Tube sucks, that's all.