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Morning Edition, November 9, 2007 · A waitress causes a stir on the political blogs. The waitress at a Maid-Rite restaurant in Iowa says she did not get a tip after serving presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, a Democrat from New York. But the Clinton campaign says a $100 tip was left at the diner. Election 2008 Editor's Note: The Tale of the Tip Where It Started... Nov. 8, 2007 When Real Lives Get Swept Into Campaign Rhetoric NPR.org, November 8, 2007 · It started as an aside in a longer interview, but it became an Internet sensation within hours....

It seems I was right to be suspicious of the Clinton Campaign's version of the tip story at the Iowa diner last month. Hillary's contempt for actual flesh & blood ordinary working people, contrary to her pose of championing their interests, keeps coming through loud and clear. NPR has this today. Read the whole thing to get the complete picture, but here is what is laid out:

A waitress causes a stir on the political blogs. The waitress at a Maid-Rite restaurant in Iowa says she did not get a tip after serving presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, a Democrat from New York. But the Clinton campaign says a $100 tip was left at the diner. It started as an aside in a longer interview, but it became an Internet sensation within hours. Anita Esterday, a waitress at the Maid-Rite in Toledo, Iowa, told NPR's David Greene in a report that aired on Morning Edition Thursday that "nobody got left a tip" on Oct. 8, when Clinton...

ANGOLA, Ind. -- A waitress got more than a $5 tip for her friendly service. She also got a $10,000 gift. Jessica Osborne was so overcome she cried so hard she could barely breathe. When she told a co-worker what had happened she called her a liar. ''I got that a lot,'' Osborne said. The money came from a mother and her two sons who want to remain anonymous. The three were regular customers at the Pizza Hut in Angola and she remembered their order: two Mountain Dews, a cup of hot water for a bag of tea the woman...

There is an image at the conclusion of Adrienne Shelly's "Waitress" that producer Michael Roiff can't get out of his mind. It's of Shelly's young daughter, Sophie, walking down a dirt road with her onscreen mother, played by Keri Russell. "Yeah, that's the one that I think is the hardest for all of us," Roiff says. What makes it hard is that Shelly died last November, shortly before the film was accepted to the Sundance Film Festival, where it subsequently became a hit (it opened in New York last week). Now, of course, Shelly will never know what became of...

When a U.S. military helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, Georgia native Gerry Neel and his elite unit were sent in to rescue survivors. Gunfire rained down, killing three of Neel's buddies. Back at the barracks, Neel mourned the deaths of his fellow Airborne Rangers while clutching a laminated photo of his wife and son —- his comfort amid the chaos of war. An hour after he finally fell asleep, he was awakened with dreadful news: His 20-month-old son, Hunter, had fallen to his death from the ninth-floor balcony of a downtown Atlanta hotel. It took Neel three days to...

A German court fined a man 400 euros (470 dollars) for biting a waitress on the toe and drawing blood after he spilled beer on her foot and she told him to lick it clean. "The waitress did not hold out her foot for him to hurt, but to clean," the judge ruled in the case in Gelsenkirchen, in western Germany, the court said in a statement. The waitress took 10 days off work because of the injury.

LOS ANGELES - Actress Lorna Thayer, the waitress who memorably refused to let Jack Nicholson order toast in the 1970 movie "Five Easy Pieces," has died. She was 85. Thayer died June 4 at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home in Woodland Hills after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Her career spanned 40 years during which she appeared in more than 40 motion pictures and had dozens of guest roles on television shows. Most of her work, however, was bit parts. She often was cast in movies credited only as "flower vendor," "warden" or "suntan lady," although...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A female bartender who refused to wear makeup at a Reno, Nevada, casino was not unfairly dismissed from her job, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. Darlene Jespersen, who had worked for nearly 20 years at a Harrah's Entertainment Inc casino bar in Reno, Nevada, objected to the company's revised policy that required female bartenders, but not men, to wear makeup. A previously much-praised employee, Jespersen was fired in 2000 after the firm instituted a "Beverage Department Image Transformation" program and she sued, alleging sex discrimination. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of...

CHICAGO -- A former waitress at Hooters, the restaurant chain known for scantily clad servers, was awarded $275,000 in a lawsuit over peepholes in a dressing room.

The $h!tty Tipper Database! Tipper's Name: John Kerry Restaurant: Chart House Where it happened: Alexandria, VA Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $262.60 / $0.00 / 0% What happened: June 5, 04 Kerry, his wife, 4 unknown suits - We were happy to seat them in a semi-private area and gave them the same excellent service as we would give anyone - then got stiffed! Tipper's Name: John Kerry Restaurant: Nathan'sWhere it happened: Washington, D.C.Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $110.00 / $5.00 / 4% What happened: He was quite nice, but the wife was a real bitch.

Send in the clowns. Here come the clowns. Yeah, the four-day Democratic Party convention will begin at Boston's FleetCenter on July 26, 2004. Oh wait, it's supposed to be a serious event, I guess. Perhaps that's why they imported those hundreds of extra hookers and the Boston Police have instructions to allow them to sell their wares unimpeded. But, darn, it's hard to take this convention seriously when the lead speakers remind me of a Bart Simpson quote: "Didn't do it. Didn't see me do it. Can't prove anything." To start off the show, they've got Hillary introducing Bill Clinton....

Father of 'American Idol' finalist charged in waitress incident Associated Press Posted on Fri, May. 28, 2004 COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - The father of a former "American Idol" finalist was charged Friday with simple battery after being accused by a waitress of making an unwelcome sexual advance. Former Atlanta police chief Eldrin Bell, the father of former "Idol" finalist Justin Guarini, was formally arrested Friday after a court hearing on the matter. Bell was released on his own recognizance. The 68-year-old Bell, a candidate for chairman of the Clayton County Commission, was Atlanta's police chief from 1990 to 1994. In...

<p>HANNIBAL, Mo. (AP) — Mark Twain once called honesty "the best of all the lost arts." But it's an art that hasn't been lost in his own hometown. A Hannibal waitress is getting kudos from her boss after returning $2,000 to the tourist who lost it. Haley Cassidy found an envelope on the floor of Ole Planters Restaurant last week after a group of people had finished their meal. She looked inside and found $2,000 in cash.</p>

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A waitress who had thrown a group of suspected gang members out of her family's Salvadoran restaurant was killed along with a 24-year-old customer when the men returned and one opened fire, authorities said. Waitress Yesenia Rodriguez spotted the gun and tried to block the men when at least four of them returned to the restaurant Saturday afternoon, witnesses told the Los Angeles Times for Sunday's editions. "He opened fire like a madman," said Rodriguez's sister, Marlene Castellon. "It's a miracle he didn't kill more people." Rodriguez, a mother of two, died shortly after the shooting,...

Detective: Driver cursed at waitress Murder suspect heard laughing before arrest; bail reduction denied 01/17/2003 By TIM WYATT / The Dallas Morning News The 19-year-old driver charged in the death of an Irving waitress cursed the injured woman for hanging onto the trunk of the getaway car as it sped out of a restaurant parking lot, a detective testified Thursday. Minutes later, officers overheard the driver laugh and talk with her friends in the car before their arrest. The testimony was in contrast to defense attorneys' portrayal of Sarah Foust as distraught and remorseful over the death of Jennifer...

Bennigan's may face sanctions over service Restaurant gave alcohol to 3 teens before death of waitress, state says 01/16/2003 By STEVE McGONIGLE / The Dallas Morning News A Bennigan's restaurant in Irving where a waitress was killed Jan. 3 might face administrative sanctions for serving alcohol to three underage patrons whom the waitress was chasing for not paying their bill, the state's liquor control agency said Wednesday. If the restaurant is found to have violated state law, it could face suspension or cancellation of its liquor license, or a fine of up to $25,000 per day, said Sgt. John...

Chance encounter with troubled teens left waitress dead The consequences of a moment 01/12/2003 By MARK WROLSTAD and STEVE McGONIGLE / The Dallas Morning News The plan was to get something for nothing. The price turned out to be a life. When four aimless dropouts apparently decided the night after New Year's to eat and drink their fill, then skip out on the restaurant bill, it may have seemed to them an almost harmless theft. But this time, for a lost circle of friends already familiar with the effects of bad choices and bad habits, the crime would not...

Posted on Fri, Jan. 10, 2003 Driver seeks to talk with victim's kin By Ben TinsleyStar-Telegram Staff Writer The driver of the car that struck and killed a Bennigan's waitress last week in Irving is offering to meet with the victim's family to acknowledge her "responsibility and obligation" to them, her attorney said Thursday.Sarah Haven Foust, 18, of Irving is also seeking to have her $100,000 bail reduced to $25,000, said her attorney, David Scoggins of Mesquite. A bail-reduction hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Dallas County criminal district court.Foust is accused of driving the 1978 Chevrolet Nova that...

Funeral services held for Irving waitress Fall from car, not initial hit, killed waitress 01/08/2003 By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News Family and friends said goodbye Wednesday morning to an Irving waitress killed in a Bennigan's restaurant parking lot. Funeral services were held at Arlington Funeral Home for 20-year-old Jennifer Sanchez. Ms. Sanchez, who was struck and killed by the car of a patron who walked out on a restaurant tab, was thrown from the roof and trunk only after the driver braked and accelerated repeatedly for 200 feet, according to documents made public Tuesday. Jennifer Sanchez's...