Monday Night Function

[DonRocks]

y = 9

z = 5

On Monday nights, y + z = 7

Lemmata

1. It was Monday night

2. During the course of the meal, diner ordered, among other things, f(x) = 3y + z

3. Diner did not mention Monday-night special at any point during ordering

4. Server was experienced, with intimate knowledge of the restaurant

When the bill arrives, f(x) should = ?

[dcdavidm]

y = 9

z = 5

On Monday nights, y + z = 7

Lemmata

1. It was Monday night

2. During the course of the meal, diner ordered, among other things, f(x) = 3y + z

3. Diner did not mention Monday-night special at any point during ordering

4. Server was experienced, with intimate knowledge of the restaurant

When the bill arrives, f(x) should = ?

16?

[KMango]

Hrm, that's a tough one.

But the fact that you are posting about it now indicates the transaction left a bad taste in your mouth. Which would not have happened had you received the pleasant surprise of a discount.

Which means the restaurant is leaving their customers pondering inequitable treatment rather than reminiscing on their dining experience.

=not good

[Rhone1998]

I'm assuming you got charged 25. While not technically incorrect I think that would leave a bad taste in my mouth, too.

[DaRiv18]

Well, this Monday IS the day after Valentine's Day. One person's holiday is another person's 4th consecutive shift.

I agree with the $25, ie 7+ 9+9

4. Server was experienced, with intimate knowledge of

This is as far as I got on that point, before I immediately began considering whether "your Momma" or "my dick" best finished that sentence.

[DanielK]

$25 is what you should be charged, but I'm guessing from your post that you were charged $32. Unless the special specifically says that you must ask for the discount, that's pretty slimy.

[The Doctor]

$25 is what you should be charged, but I'm guessing from your post that you were charged $32. Unless the special specifically says that you must ask for the discount, that's pretty slimy.

On Monday nights, shouldn't the price of y be no more than the $7 of y+z? Essentially Don had three orders of the $7 y+z with two instances of "hold the z."

[DanielK]

On Monday nights, shouldn't the price of y be no more than the $7 of y+z? Essentially Don had three orders of the $7 y+z with two instances of "hold the z."

I see what you're saying, but I don't have an ethical issue with not honoring that. A smart server, after an order for "y", might have said "you know, if you order y+z, I'm going to charge you $2 less than if you just order y."

[jparrott]

Yeah, I'm guessing that discounting the first $5 z was designed to get you to order more $5 z's and that one or more of the "y only" diners was ineligible to order or consume z's in a place holding a z license.

[DonRocks]

y = 9

z = 5

On Monday nights, y + z = 7

Lemmata

1. It was Monday night

2. During the course of the meal, diner ordered, among other things, f(x) = 3y + z

3. Diner did not mention Monday-night special at any point during ordering

4. Server was experienced, with intimate knowledge of the restaurant

When the bill arrives, f(x) should = ?

Lemmata (cont.)

3. (cont.) BUT diner did ask about the Monday-night specials upon sitting down, and was explicitly told about y + z = 7

5. Diner ordered his 3y + z at four discrete moments during the meal, never ordering them together

6. Diner ordered z at the end of the meal, almost as an afterthought

7. y = a beverage

8. z = a small food item (easily packaged as takeout)

9. Diner bypassed 2z a} to avoid wasting food b} to sample (and pay for) other things on the menu c} to save the restaurant money on food costs

[yuca]

Lemmata (cont.)

3. (cont.) BUT diner did ask about the Monday-night specials upon sitting down, and was explicitly told about y + z = 7

5. Diner ordered his 3y + z at four discrete moments during the meal, never ordering them together

6. Diner ordered z at the end of the meal, almost as an afterthought

7. y = a beverage

8. z = a small food item (easily packaged as takeout)

9. Diner bypassed 2z a} to avoid wasting food b} to sample (and pay for) other things on the menu c} to save the restaurant money on food costs

Had the diner ordered:

3(y + z) then the bill would have been 3 x ($7) = $21

However, instead he/she ordered:

y

+y

+y

+z

or

9

+9

+9

+5

-----

$32

[leleboo]

Had the diner ordered:

3(y + z) then the bill would have been 3 x ($7) = $21

However, instead he/she ordered:

y

+y

+y

+z

or

9

+9

+9

+5

-----

$32

You can factor out one y+z=7 and then just have 2y to add on. I'm intrigued by The Doctor's note that it seems almost as though the server could have treated the two lone y's as though they were y+z's, regardless of what other food was ordered; that seems more than fair, unless there's a law against discounting alcohol and the only way to do so is to discount food ordered "with" it (although in this equation, that means the food is actually negatively priced, i.e., the restaurant is paying the diner to take the food item off the kitchen's hands). And it doesn't make sense that the server couldn't treat other items as though they were the small food item, even if s/he charged full price for those items, therefore just knocking $2 off each of the 2 remaining beverages.

As written, if f(x) = 3y+z, then f(x) can also = 2y + (y+z) which = 25, but it does seem a little bit off given the lemmata.

[jparrott]

Well, recently a friend of mine booked the itinerary MDT->IAD->MSY for about $200, when on the same day I could get no better fare than $350 for IAD->MSY on the same dates.

[yuca]

You can factor out one y+z=7 and then just have 2y to add on, as noted above. I'm intrigued by The Doctor's note that it seems almost as though the server could have treated the two lone y's as though they were y+z's, regardless of what other food was ordered; that seems more than fair, unless there's a law against discounting alcohol and the only way to do so is to discount food ordered "with" it (although in this equation, that means the food is actually negatively priced, i.e., the restaurant is paying the diner to take the food item off the kitchen's hands). And it doesn't make sense that the server couldn't treat other items as though they were the small food item, even if s/he charged full price for those items, therefore just knocking $2 off each of the 2 remaining beverages.

As written, if f(x) = 3y+z, then f(x) can also = 2y + (y+z) which = 25, but it does seem a little bit off given the lemmata.

Yes, mathematically you are correct ... but one must consider the POS that was in use at the time. A (y + z) was likely programmed into the computer as a "special" and since the diner never technically ordered the "special", each order of y was perhaps treated as a normal order as was the final order of z. Although the server might have been compelled to do the right thing, the computer system won over.

[Hannah]

Yes, mathematically you are correct ... but one must consider the POS that was in use at the time. A (y + z) was likely programmed into the computer as a "special" and since the diner never technically ordered the "special", each order of y was perhaps treated as a normal order as was the final order of z. Although the server might have been compelled to do the right thing, the computer system won over.

Yeah, this makes sense. There's a very good chance that the POS will only allow the lower price of y when it's rung in as a combination with z, and the systems are designed not to let a standard user make changes to pricing or item combinations - basically, you would have had to say something and have the server get a manager to override that pricing in the system to get the lower price on y on its own.

[yuca]

Yeah, this makes sense. There's a very good chance that the POS will only allow the lower price of y when it's rung in as a combination with z, and the systems are designed not to let a standard user make changes to pricing or item combinations - basically, you would have had to say something and have the server get a manager to override that pricing in the system to get the lower price on y on its own.

So, maybe we need to modify Rocks' function a little to account for the POS:

Let F(x,y,z) = ax + by + cz

where,

F(x,y,z) is the pre-tax pre-tip tab

x, y, and z are the variables equal to the number of "specials" ordered, the number of "beers" ordered and the number of "pizza slices" ordered, respectively

a, b, and c are the unit costs of the "special", the "beer", and the "pizza slice", respectively ($7, $9, and $5)

x = 0 since the diner never actually ordered a special

y = 3 since each beer was ordered separately

z = 1, the after thought of the pizza slice

So, F(x,y,z) = (7)(0) + (9)(3) + (5)(1) = $32

We could modify the function to account for taxes and gratuity as follows:

F(x,y,z) = [ax + by + cz]T + G

For DC, T=1.1

I think it would be safe to assume that G=0 since the diner was not too happy with the server

Remember that it is difficult to program common sense into the POS!

[pizza man]

A case against y+z specials. Why not just discount both items on Monday nights?

K.I.S.S.

[Michael Landrum]

I respectfully suggest that all of the above posters always avoid any and all schoolyards at all costs, and hold on very tight to their lunch money at all times, possibly even hiding it in their sock where they'll never think to look.