Waiting For Godot’s Tip
some people
you know
expect to be thanked
just for sitting at a table
if you don’t say
thank you for eating here
thank you for looking at the menu
they start making demands
with their eyes
mind you
you know
they expect you to know
what they want
expect you to apologize
if the specials aren’t special enough
if you don’t
bring water fast enough
they are waving their hands
you know
I do this for hours
keep track of every little motion
every wrinkle of the brow
to stay on top of their needs
to fulfill
because that is my job
that is the job of the world
to be constantly aware
and ready to happily fulfill
unspoken desires
all for lousy 10% tip
you know
most days it isn’t worth it
but it’s better than
starving
right
then I think
this is the job of the world
to be constantly aware
and ready to cater
to the unspoken desires
of those around us
particularly
when we don’t know
what we want ourselves
Back to the 224 Rules for Monks after the October boo break 🙂 The rule that prompted this one is about not being too pushy with someone who is supposed to supply you with something. As I often do I changed the point of view to someone upon who we often make demands – in this case waiters. Have you ever tried to catch the eye of a waiter expecting them to guess you wanted another glass of water?
The notion of waiters easily lead me to the title – a play on Waiting For Godot – a play in which the lead characters wait for this guy to show up and offer them some sort of salvation – spoiler alert: he never shows up. The tip is what is awaited here – the hope for something of size – our reward to them for being pleasant. 
I’ve seen customers take it out on waiters for things that aren’t the waiter’s fault. Waiters bring the food, they don’t cook it, they don’t plate it, they bring it and let you eat it. They don’t wash the dishes, the cutlery, or decide on the portion size of your drinks, the strength of the coffee, or even what tables are available. Trust me they’ve heard that joke (whatever one it is) hundreds of times.
In editing this for more than typos (I’m sure there’s at least one) I expanded it as I realized that in life we all serve someone – bosses, partners – we live in a world of unexpressed expectations & cultural conditioning. The tip we get is the other person’s approval. This construct is impossible to transcend without being a hermit. It ends with admitting that often we really don’t know what we want, merely what we think we want or what we’ve been taught we want. That’s what the ad industry is built on. We get sold the ‘smoke’ but end up getting the cancer.
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