Mayor Rocky Anderson might be tight with Salt Lake City's budget, but he's a generous tipper who always leaves at least 20 percent, says Bridgett Hatfield. On the other hand, Greg Ostertag could use a few pointers on how to impress the person who brings him his veggie omelet and side of hot cakes.
"He left $3, but most of the Jazz players usually leave $10 or $20," says Bridgett, 22, a waitress at Salt Lake City's Village Inn for five years. She smiles and shrugs. "I guess he just didn't have it to give that day."
Perhaps, but Ostertag is a better customer than the carloads of teenagers from nearby Judge High School who order chocolate malts and fries, empty all of the salt shakers, then leave a few pennies on the table.
"I cringe when I see them coming," says Bridgett with a sigh. "One day, I had a party of 50 high school kids. I'll take a table of toddlers any day."
Bridgett says this as she digs into a Chinese chicken salad at Applebee's, her choice for a Free Lunch on her day off. A single mother, she brought along her 2-year-old daughter, Justice, because she rarely gets to spend much time with her during the work week.
"When I'm not at work, we're inseparable," she says. "I'd love to stay home with her, but this is how things are, so I make the most of it. I want to give my daughter a good life."
Hoping to erase the stereotype that "all single moms are lazy and on welfare," Bridgett wanted to spend her lunch hour sharing what it's like to juggle single motherhood and waiting tables from 7 to 4.
"I work hard because it's my dream to get my daughter a house," says Bridgett, on her own since she became pregnant because Justice's father "decided he didn't want to be a dad."
"Some people look down on single moms," she says, "but a lot of us are putting in a full day to support our kids. I've never expected a handout."
Born and raised in Green River, Utah, Bridgett moved to Salt Lake City at age 18 because she was tired of the slow rhythms of small-town life. She didn't intend to end up spending her days asking "whole wheat or white?" but Village Inn was hiring and she needed some cash.
"A lot of people think you can't do any better when you're a waitress," says Bridgett, who still looks as though she could be on the Green River High drill team, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail and hazel eyes set off by a tan. "The truth is, it isn't bad money. On a good day, I make over $100 in tips."
About half of that goes toward saving for a down payment on a house, thanks to a friend who watches her daughter for only $50 a week.
"I don't think I'll wait tables forever," says Bridgett, "but for now, it's fine. I have some elderly regulars who come in every day because they don't want to eat alone at home. You can tell they're lonely, so I always try to talk to them, cheer them up a little."
Those moments make up for the bad days, she says, when the restaurant is full of teenagers and the change in her pockets is light.
"The worst thing that ever happened was dropping a tray loaded with skillet breakfasts on a table of six people," she says with a wince. "I wanted to die, but they were real nice. They didn't even stiff me."
After our waitress drops off the check, Bridgett casually lets me know how much to leave on the table. "A good tip for two people would be $6," she says. She cleans up her daughter's melted ice cream and grins. "Maybe even $7."
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