Legg-Ett-ing a Docket

Our takeaway orders are written on dockets for our own cooking, packing and end of night totals. So it is advised that we do not give them away to customers. It seems useless to hand them over anyway as they have no Restaurant Name or Tax File Number, therefore there is really no use for them in a financial sense. We do however automatically print off EFTPOS receipts (that does have Name and Number) and also do hand write receipts with Restaurant Name and Tax File Numbers on request.

Leggett is a regular take away customer. On this random night he decided to take the take away docket. The only reason why it was taken was because we had a fan on in take away to help combat the current heat wave, the docket flew across the table to his direction. He caught it and put it into his take away bag before anyone could ask for it back.

Now normally in this case, I just let it go. The hassle to try and ask for it back is just as easy as writing down the total, and if the order wasn't large, just writing out the order again. However, on this certain night we had  a very Dedicated-Waitress who really wanted that docket.

Dedicated-Waitress ran out the door after the customer. Now I didn't really know what she was up to at this point in time so it was all a little confusing. Another waitress told me that she had gone to retrieve this run-away docket. It took her a while to re-enter the restaurant. I assumed that she had been caught up in a conversation with the customer, as you do on rather slow nights.

I think she wished that it had been the case this time.

When Dedicated-Waitress finally returned, she looked slightly flustered.

Dedicated-Waitress: You would not believe that conversation I just had.
Me: You were gone for a while, I thought you were having a good chat with the customer.

At this point, I'm still thinking it was a pleasant conversation.

Dedicated-Waitress: I just got a LECTURE from that customer about receipts.

I started laughing. The expression on her face was of pure hatred and anger. So it probably wasn't the smartest of things I could have been doing at the time.

Dedicated-Waitress: I asked him politely if I could have the receipt back, then he started telling me that all retail places should give out receipts.

This particular customer has been ordering at our restaurant for as long as I have been working there. In fact I don't doubt that he has been eating at the restaurant even longer than I have been working there, or even longer than the time my boss has owned the restaurant.

So here's the confusing thing, he has never, to my knowledge, EVER asked for a receipt (unless it is from the EFTPOS terminal) at all. Yet all of a sudden he wants to be anxious over a piece of paper?

I'm thinking to myself that that was the worst of it, that all he wanted to do was to have a stern word to her about running after him for the docket.

Dedicated-Waitress: He, apparently, works in a burger place and they always give out receipts to their customers and that we should too.

I can remember that I have NOT gotten a receipt from more places than I HAVE from Take Away and Dine-In eateries.


Eventually after this long and painful lecture, our poor Dedicated-Waitress, who only went outside for one simple purpose; to retrieve this precious docket, had enough of being lectured over a piece of paper.


Dedicated-Waitress: [Looked at the customer and put her hands up in defense] You know what? If you want the docket so badly then you can have it.

I don't think our Dedicated-Waitress ever fought so hard in her life for any piece of paper, let alone one that was scribbled all over it.

At this point he then, finally, hands it over to her.  

After all of that.

Which makes me think how much this particular docket, on this particular day was especially important to him. So much in fact that he needed to harass a poor unsuspecting waitress.


Most of our waitresses are young (25 years old and under) and therefore sometimes older customers (which is a large majority of them) feel that they should somewhat impart mature wisdom onto us. However, when it comes out like a lecture, that's just not acceptable. Who do you think you are to lecture someone at all? Especially over something as trivial as a docket.


Later on that same night a customer came to pay for his Dine-In bill. Dedicated-Waitress was serving them and asked if she could have the bill after the customer had inspected it so that she could make sure she was putting the right total into the EFTPOS terminal.

Wife-of-Customer [To Customer]: Don't run off with it, she needs it [Referring to the docket].
Dedicated-Waitress: Yes, you might take the docket and 'leg-it'.

Dedicated-Waitress almost bursts out laughing in front of these unsuspecting customers, unintentionally making a awful joke out of her earlier debacle in the evening.

It was clearly just one of those types of nights and at least she could find the humor of it all in the end. And will probably never run after a docket EVER again.