Hillary Clinton is a real piece of work. She stiffs a hardworking American Waitress out of a tip, then goes down the street and uses her as a talking point.
In early October, Sen. Hillary Clinton's 'Middle Class Express' made a pit stop at the Maid Rite diner in Marshalltown, Iowa.
The New York senator, joined by local political luminaries Christie Vilsack and Ruth Harkin, enjoyed a famous loose meat sandwich and attempted to hand caucus cards to the Iowans inside.
Clinton also spoke to one of the diner's waitresses, Anita Esterday. It was her first day on the job and she and Clinton shared a short exchange. Esterday, who has three jobs and works 12 hour shifts, said to Clinton "both of my sons have worked since they were 14 years old"; Clinton told her, "I'm proud of you."
But, according to Esterday, that's where Clinton's gratitude ended as the campaign crew left with nary a gratuity for any of the hard working Maid-Riters.
"I mean, nobody got left a tip that day," Esterday said in an interview with NPR after a visit by Senator Clinton.
Hillary went on down the road to another diner and used this woman's name in a speech, talking about how she was going to make her life better. And she couldn't leave a tip? Well, the Clinton effect gets worse for this woman:
I don't think she understood at all what I was saying," Esterday continued to tell NPR. "Afterwards it was like do you guys live in the real world, maybe they don't carry money, I don't know."
Esterday's assertion may be a bipartisan one: earlier this year, former Governor Mitt Romney, R-Mass., who holds a fortune estimated between $190-$250 million found himself sans wallet and without the means to pay for his vanilla steamer at a campaign stop in DeWitt, Iowa.
But an allegedly tip-less visit wasn't Esterday's only complaint.
"As for all of this attention on me, it hasn't helped my life, its made my life worse," added the Maid-Rite waitress.
Esterday's picture with the Senator also landed in a local newspaper. Her employer at the nursing home is not a Clinton fan and, since the photo appeared, the waitress claims her shifts have been reduced; she suspects the picture in the paper was the reason.
Of course, Madame Clinton is famous for not tipping people. Drudge reported that she likes to think she is owed everything here:
February 11, 2000
It's all the buzz in Albion: Hillary stiffs a single mom
By Barbara J. Saffir
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
ALBION, N.Y. Maybe it's no big deal elsewhere, but it's all the buzz in Albion.
Hillary Rodham Clinton dropped into the Village House, a favorite diner in this upstate farming town, and ordered two orders of scrambled eggs, home fries and rye toast. So far, so good. The locals appreciate a hearty appetite.
Her breakfast was on the house, and when she left the waitress, a single mom, found not a penny at her plate.
The locals have been talking about little else since Tuesday, when she stopped for breakfast after making a speech about how New York's farmers "are really hurting these days."
Says Linda Ellis, a regular who voted for President Clinton and says she might vote for the first lady: "It's the little things you have to look at in a political campaign.
"She is the first lady, but it doesn't feed her son," she said. The waitress, who makes less than the minimum wage and pays for her own health insurance, deserved a tip, she said.
Mrs. Clinton, who once declared a 15-cent income-tax deduction for a pair of her husband's undershorts that she had donated to charity, had dropped into the diner, halfway between Buffalo and Rochester, along with a dozen reporters in her motorcade.
It was her first public event since beginning her "official" candidacy Sunday at Purchase, N.Y., near her new $1.7 million Westchester County home. Mrs. Clinton, the beneficiary of extensive contributions from unions, is pushing to raise the minimum wage and make health insurance affordable.
"She had two servings of eggs," said restaurant owner Alex Mitrousis. At first, she just ordered oatmeal to go but then she ordered scrambled eggs, home fries and rye toast. After she ate that, she ordered "two scrambled eggs with cheese," he said. "We're going to call it the first lady's special," he said.
One order of "two large fresh eggs" with toast and ham, bacon or sausage costs $2.75.
Mr. Mitrousis, who emigrated to the United States from Greece decades ago, says the first lady's failure to leave a tip does not bother him and that it was "an honor" to have the first lady stop there.
He also noted that he enjoyed the publicity because many customers now ask for the table where Mrs. Clinton sat. He said he lost money during her visit, however, because regular patrons could not get in to the packed parking lot near the intersection of routes 31 and 98.
Mr. Mitrousis said he did not charge Mrs. Clinton for the food she ordered herself during her visit with more than a dozen reporters and photographers in tow.
Amazing, the arrogance and sense of entitlement of this woman.
2:05 update
Despite being called a liar by Bill and Hillary and her campaign, the waitress who says Madame Hillary stiffed her stands by her story. Check it out here
