He was standing in line at a restaurant, waiting to pay my bill behind two
women who handed the young waitress a credit card. After swiping the card, she
loudly called out to her manager, “Mr. Allen, what do I do if it says
‘rejected’?”
As the women’s faces reddened and customers turned to look, Mr.
Allen walked out from the kitchen. “Well,” he answered, wiping his hands, “the
first thing you do is shout it out loud enough to embarrass the customer, who
might have been thinking of leaving you a tip.”