Since I'm back on my strict diet (as part of my New Year Resolutions), I eat at Subway quite a bit. Another reason I eat there is because they have improved their menu. I eat there about two or three times a week now. It's a change for me and, like I say, they have improved their menu. I went there yesterday morning for the second time this week. They always have a container next to the cash register that has a sign which says “Tips Appreciated.” Sometimes I leave a tip if the service is fast.

I got a foot long sub combo with a chips and a couple of chocolate chip cookies (ok, sometimes I have to make an allowance on my diet) and a 32 ounce drink. It came to $11.22. I gave the Subway server a $20 bill expecting $8.78 in change. Well, I got the $8.00, but she kept the $.78. Now, I've seen this before. But, not at Subway. I told the server she still owed me $.78. She said, “That is my tip.” I told her that it is up to me to 1) decide if I want to leave a tip and 2) how much that tip will be. Now, it wasn't the money at all. It was her arrogance and the principle involved. I know she doesn't make much money. But, that was all beside the point. I told her I wanted the rest of my money. She pulled open the cash drawer and threw the change up on the counter with most of it landing on the floor. I told her that if she didn't pick up the change and hand it to me, I would be reporting her to Subway. She said, “It's your money, like you said. You want it, you pick it up.” I picked up the money and went out the door. Of course, after I got home, I called Subway Public Affairs. I told the Public Relations person about what happened. She said it is customary to leave tips. But, that the server was out of line and would be reprimanded (reprimanded???). I said if it is “customary” to leave tips, why isn't it just added to the cost of the meal itself? She said then it would not be a tip. A tip is voluntary, she said. I told her it is not voluntary when your own employees are taking the money without asking the customer. That is not a “customary” practice of any business I have ever associated with in my life. She didn't have much to add to that. She just said the employee would be dealt with about this “incident.”

I won't let this keep me from going back to Subway, of course. Subway has some fine people working for them, especially this couple from India that own a Subway a bit further from my home. I will be going there from now on to get my Subway sandwich. It just seems that if there is a jerk to be found anywhere in the world, he or she will somehow walk into my life these days. I just didn't expect to walk into that jerk in a Subway Sandwich store.