WHO DAT AGONY

My Who Dat dog, Cody

More corruption, More scandal for the Who Dat nation: don’t worry, a New Orleans Saint’s fan can survive.

Will the NFL commissioner throw the book at Drew Brees? Will more disgrace rock the black and gold? Can the Who Dat Nation catch a break?

Again, will we be the ESPN’s running debate for another football season?

New Orleans Saints official photo

So what if A-rod may get suspended from baseball? So what Lance Armstrong cheated with steroids.  So what if Tiger Woods slept around while married? So what if the Patriot’s Hernandez allegedly killed some folks?

So what? Drew Brees tipped $3 on a $74 dollar TAKE OUT order in California!

the dirty.com's tattle tell photo

Yes, you heard it…the latest scandal de jeur for my Saints team has NFL fans across the nation gasping in shock! Breesus has sinned.

Judgment, condemnation, and agony on me!

Will the NFL suspend Brees from leading the New Orleans Saints as star quarterback this year? Will the NyQuil folks fire our Who Dat hero from their commercials?

Will the One Direction pop dude’s ‘one-up’ Drew in their Pepsi advertisement?

Drew vs One Direction Commercial

Oh, dear, what will the Who Dat Nation do now?

Basically? Yawn.

Celebrating Super Bowl Win!!

I mean, please, we have been through much worse.

However, internet outrage has taken up the tipping scandal charge but faithful Who Dat fans have picked up the gauntlet and have tipped generously in Brees’ name, saying they have Drew Brees’s back!

So, as I investigate this newest impropriety from our dear NFL players, I am forced to address the latest controversy that has hit the proverbial fan.

Takeout orders, tip or no tip?

Being a server, waiter or waitress is really hard work. I have had bad service and tipped lightly, but never have I not tipped. Why? Because, I have been a waitress! But on takeout or drive-thru's? No tipping from me.

MY Who Dat boys

My eldest son works for Outback, and is training for management; he has worked every level of the service industry: the bus boy, the curb side takeout waiter, table server and bar tender, plus he has been a cook in a couple of nice restaurants. He knows the inside and the outside of this industry and as one who makes a living being tipped, he knows how desperate a server is for good tips.

Tips are not bonuses, they are wages.

For some folks, tipping is a representation of your character. For others, they want to be more generous but have tight budgets and stay at the minimum requirement. But most, tip according to service which is a good rule, as long as you start at the suggested minimum amount.

And by requirement, it is not a law of government to tip, but a law of society, it is expected.

All service employees depend on their living from tips and should be expected, and budgeted in your eating experience.

I remember my hard working son complaining that a $100 plus ticket for a meal had an $8 dollar tip which is less than ten percent. At most establishments, up to 3 percent of the cost of the ticket (NOT the tip) goes to bus boys, hosts, bar tenders and etc. That would mean already nearly $3 dollars of the tip is deducted. They were rude, he worked hard but they were drinking.

You should be careful if drinking and tipping, it can go both ways, expensive or cheap.

But what is expected? It is evident that many in our culture are either not sure or just cheap. Ignorance is not an excuse.

Where do you stand?

In this Brees issue, the question we have to decide is, do you tip on takeouts, if so how much, and if you are a millionaire celebrity, what are society’s expectation rules?

The irate finger-pointers cry foul, probably Atlanta fans, but then, they don’t get too worked up over their team enough to be outraged, so it’s the other NFL fans ire that has been erked.

Miss Emily Post has the say for what we, the normal average folks do. Here are some of those Thou Shalt’s of tipping:

• Restaurant waiters who serve you at a sit-down facility should get 15-20%, before tax tip. To break down those numbers here is a value scale from TripAdvisor.com: 10% means very unhappy, 15% means all was ok, 20% means excellent and 25% equals outstanding! The 15% mark is the norm.

TripAdvisors Article on tipping

• Buffet servers, since we do most of the work serving our own overstuffed plates of food, should get 10% of the pre-tax bill. I think most of us just drop a couple of dollars without thinking.
• For the takeout order, the recommendation is this: “No obligation.” For curb delivery takeout the guide is a 10% tip with more for extra service or large orders.
• Home delivery such as pizza should be 10-15% of the bill, or $2 - $5 measuring order size and difficulty.
• Bar tenders should get $1 - $2 per drink or 15 – 20% of the tab. Tipping jars have no obligation and restroom attendants, who kind of creep me out, get .50 - $3. This is dependent on the service which I am still not sure why I need help in the bathroom…yet.
• Valet attendants, which since I am married I never use one, should get $2- $5 when the car is returned. Check your odometer first which is a vague Bueller reference.

Emily Post Article on tipping

I have a cousin who is raising two children, works at catfish restaurant, kind of out in the woods, and at a table of ten I have witnessed the sacrilege of a $2 tip and a mess of epic proportions and dozens of refilled drink trips. She served the customers well, but because of ignorance or they were just too darn cheap, she has less in her check.

Waiters make below minimum wage, average is $2 an hour.

Who made this an issue anyway? The Dirty.com posted the photos last week, the scandal was born and was played out on ESPN and sports shows across America. Maybe their full name should be the dirty(bird) dot com?

What has been the response?

The manager of the restaurant defended Brees, “If this is an authentic receipt," he said in a statement, "it would indicate that Mr. Brees is a very generous individual, as it would be a takeout receipt ... and takeout orders do not usually garner a tip at our restaurant." He went as far as apologizing to Brees and donated an amount to charity.

Drew Brees, was caught unaware, working out in the gym staring at the sports stations on the television screens dragging his receipt through the mud. 

He responded, “In case anyone still cares about this report: I tipped $3 on a takeout order. Had we sat down it would have been 20% plus.”

Yet, now the offended are saying his financial status requires him to do more.

I remember in the last presidential election, the charitable donations of the candidates did not even make the headlines. One candidate out gave ten to one of his income and yet it did not make a trickle of concern to the masses.

So, here we stand, judging another man’s generosity who gives and sacrifices time and hard earned money (NFL players work really, really hard for the money) not because he gives over and above to worthwhile charities and causes, but because he did not tip enough in a non-obligation tipping situation and that he could have given much more because of the size of his pocket book.

Brees Dream Foundation

Oh, the agony of being a Saint’s fan.

I expect Sean Payton will be exiled because he was aware of the tipping habits of his star quarterback and did not report it. Mr. Benson, as a writer, I deserve a tip for being a loyal Saint’s fan.

At a Tennessee Titan vs NO Saints game!!!

Today, please be kind, and tip wisely and generously. Plus, Mom’s deserve tips too, if not monetary, with kind words or hugs.

And Who Dat? Who dat say they not going tip?