A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned

Is it acceptable for a server to "keep" your change? Let's say you got a bill at a restaurant that was $31.73. You leave $40 in the wallet and when the server returns the wallet there are 8 $1 dollar bills. Is this o.k.? Is this common? Is this how ANY person should act when returning change from a purchase? NO. NO. In case you missed it, NOOOOO. Are you kidding me? Why would any server EVER think that the change is theirs to keep? I'm miffed by this strange behavior that I've encountered at least 4 times this year alone. Not only is this STEALING, it's WRONG. And, it shouldn't be tolerated. If this happens to you, I guess you can decide whether you feel the server is having a bad day and maybe just forgot all the change and doesn't deserve to get fired, but not in my opinion. They do it all shift long, giving change, so there is NO excuse. No reason to ever short change a customer. Let's look at it this way. Have you ever been given too much change? You know, let's say your bill was $31.05 and you gave the server $40. Have you ever gotten back $9? YES. It happens all the time. And giving back extra is not stealing from the restaurant because when the server closes out for the shift, the restaurant gets what is owed them, not a nickel short. Nobody want 95 cents banging around their pockets or weighing down their change purse anyway. And the server is going to get it back in tips IF, and this is a big IF, they give you the change in the proper denominations. You know, like when you get $7 in change and it's a $5 and two $1's and you don't have any other change. BASIC server stuff here. Let's say the bill is $22 and the customer gives the server $30. The server gives the customer back a $5 dollar bill and three $1 dollar bills. What would you leave as the tip if you didn't have any other bills? Or, would you ask the server to break the $5 dollar bill into ones? Depends on how the entire experience went I suppose. But really, it shouldn't. The server should already know that. Personally, I would leave the $3 and take the $5. Going out to a restaurant is about SERVICE. And making me ask for different change causing me to wait longer to leave, that's not service. Service means you come, you eat, you leave and life is great. You talk about the wonderful food, how the server was attentive to your needs and how much you want to come back. Service is not about waiting for a server to make change when they've already had the opportunity to do so. Rant on my FOODIE flock, what say you?