All right, folks. We have a job to do. One of my friends, Kim, is a little depressed. She's had a nasty day today.

I think we should all send her much love and adoration. She has a sucky job and is going to school at the same time.

Personally, I think you should all drop what you're doing right now and send her happy thoughts. And if you have a little pixie dust, send that too.

So, Kim, this is for you:

You're a wonderful woman. You give hope to those who have none. You share your time and effort with people who just don't seem to care. You work your ass off and no one seems to notice.

BUT, I notice. And my friends notice. And Laka, Chance, Nat... we notice. The hubby notices.

Let me tell you this, people... all of you out there... When you go to a restaurant, whether it's a high-class joint or a greasy spoon, TIP THE WAITSTAFF!!!

I don't care if you got a shitty meal and had the crappiest service in the world. The minimum tip should be 10 percent of your final bill. The tip for decent service is 15%. The tip for excellent service, as a rule, is 20%.

No matter how you hate the place or the food, the waiters and waitresses are working their asses off and supporting themselves on shitty wages and what meager tips they can get.

If you're going out and you can't leave a tip, either buy something else, or tell the waitress that she did a good job. Compliment her (honestly) At least tell her that she did it right. Damn...

It pisses me off when people don't have the respect to give a tip.

You know, there are a lot of people out there who seem to think that a waiter or waitress gets to keep all their tips. That's simply not true. They have to split their tips with the cooks and the bussers. Even if they have to buss their own tables.

If you have ten bucks and you decide to go out... don't buy more than 7 bucks worth of food. The tax (for those states that have tax) will eat up about a buck and you can leave just a two dollar tip... That's enough to make a single waiter/waitress work harder.

And trust me, waiters and waitresses remember who does and doesn't tip.

Just have a heart and leave a tip. If you don't like the service or something, don't go back.

*sighs*

Okay, I'm stepping off my soap box now.

I would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to go to my new fiction diary... the place where I post the stuff I'm writing. VicsFiction.diaryland.com.

I would like to get your opinions on the stuff that I have so far. All of it there, so far, is part of the Backwater Dive book I'm currently working on, but none of it is really in order. I just want to know opinions about the content. Is it something that would make you want to read more?

Oh, and the one that's labeled "Backwater Dive: Introduction" is actually the "preface" of the book. I couldn't think of the right word when I was posting the entry.

There's a message board up for that site now, so please... read and tell me what you think.

And that closes the 800th entry of this diary.