I'm not sure if you are calling my attitude elitist or entitled, or just referring to people who do have this attitude in a restaurant. And I'm also not sure if you mean to suggest that I act like a total fool. If so, let me assure you that I have never been anything but reserved and polite in a restaurant, regardless of the poor service. I don't make special requests. I don't send things back if they aren't perfect. I don't yell for a waiter to come over when I have a problem. If the service is bad, I don't tip well. I speak to the manager. I would never, ever do anything that would make any service person treat me poorly.
You can't possibly think that expecting good service in a restaurant is elitest and entitled. You absolutely ARE entitled to good service in every restaurant you go to. You're are paying good money for your meal, and expected to TIP the waiter for the level of service you receive. You can't possibly believe a bad waiter should receive the same tip as an excellant one. Read my post. What exactly am I expecting that is elitist, or entitled? I expect a waiter to do a very small amount. Am I crazy? Is it okay for a waiter to ignore my table for 40 minutes? Is it okay for my order to take an hour and then be the wrong one? Is it okay for my waiter to be rude and dismissive before I've had a chance to utter a single word? Is it okay to ignore all polite signals for some help at my table when there's a problem with my childs meal? Should I really be expected to sit there for 40 minutes waiting for the check that I have asked for 3 times? Should I simply allow a bad waiter to ruin my meal entirely and then happily fork over a large tip?
Is the statement THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT the problem? Sure, I'll admit that a badly behaving customer doesn't seem to DESERVE to be treated with respect. And if I was a waiter, and someone treated me poorly, I would definitely want to shaft them somehow. But, that would get me FIRED. No restaurant ever wants anyone to go around bad-mouthing their establishment for bad service. And here's the thing: the person who is bad-mouthing a restaurant for it's bad service may very well be one of those people who may DESERVE bad service. But they will do the same, if not MORE damage to the restaurant's reputation because they ARE trouble and more vocal.
This is where the saying THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT comes into play. It's a MANAGEMENT term. In order for a restaurant to survive, every customer must leave that restaurant praising the service and the food. So, every customer, good and bad must be treated with respect and given good service. A customer who is behaving so badly that they don't seem to DESERVE decent service is supposed to be reported to management so that they may choose to deal with the customer.
Okay, since I'm beating this topic to death anyway, I'm just going to continue. Now, I certainly don't mean to suggest that my support of the statement THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT goes to the obvious extremes. A customer is absolutely bound to behave within the law. A customer is not right to break any of the restaurants rules, treat other patrons poorly, break things, throw food, act out in a loud abrasive manner, etc. But it is not the waiter's job to interfere, that is managements job. Management may choose to allow the waiter to deal with it, but generally, the waiter is supposed to remain polite and let management deal. Right or wrong, that's just how it is. And I have seen management toss more than one lousy customer out.
And lastly, (I hope) I completely understand anyone who thinks my leaving a penny for a tip one time was out of line, and unnecessary. It was a long time ago and I shared this as a way to illustrate the point that if you receive bad service, you have a right to object in some manner. Whether it be by leaving a poor tip, or complaining to the manager. A waiter earns most of their money from tips. And I expect them to earn those tips, just as I am expected to earn my money at my job. And, honestly, leaving a penny as an insult for tremendously bad service is probably much kinder than going to the manager and insisting that the waiter be fired. Which, I have never done.