We recently asked the former and current luxury country club employees of the BuzzFeed Community to share their secrets and stories with us. Here's what they revealed:
We also included answers from this, this, and this Reddit thread since they were just too good to not include.
1. "I was a caddy at a prestigious country club for eight years. I was shocked by how many members not only cheated on their wives, but openly bragged about doing so to their fellow club members. It was like in order to be 'one of us,' you had to be morally bankrupt."
—Anonymous
2. "I worked at an exclusive LA country club. Lots of Fortune 500 company CEOs went there. I worked as a waitress, but lots of girls worked as golf cart girls, and the amount of affairs between them and some ridiculously 'important' people was wild. One summer, one of the golf cart girls was very pregnant, and the day before she took her maternity leave, she walked straight up to the table of a very rich, very old man and his wife. She took the man’s hand, put it on her stomach, and in front of the wife, said: 'I think we need to talk about child support.' She then left and quit. The wife was livid, and I think they ended up paying off the girl to keep quiet."
—Sam
3. "My mom used to work at a country club and got hit on by O.J. Simpson. I genuinely wish I was kidding. Funnily enough, he didn't bother to tip because she rejected his flirting."
—Anonymous
4. "My stepdad was a chef for many years at a country club. There was a surgeon who would come into the club every morning and order the same breakfast: eggs over-easy and a piece of lightly-toasted toast. If the color was even slightly off on either, he would send them back. Indefinitely. I think the record was something like eight times. My stepdad did get a nice yearly tip for never being the one to mess up the order though."
5. "At the country club I worked at, the people were extremely friendly, and it was, overall, a nice place to work. However, one day I did have a grown man cuss me out because we wouldn't make his son a grilled cheese sandwich that wasn't on the menu."
6. "Whenever a member charges something to their account, a notification will pop up if they are behind on their payments. One guy had almost $10,000 overdue! Luckily, it's not my job to say anything — our collections department does that. Just in my very rough opinion, I'd say about 25–35% of our clientele are living above their means in an attempt to keep up with the rest of them. It's not always easy to tell though."
7. "I was a hostess and later a bartender at a restaurant in a country club. Basically, everyone was white. For the most part it was fine, but it was just so jarring realizing why there's still racial inequality. Like, those members only interacted with each other, and their kids would marry each other, and while there was no rule on the books that people of other races weren't allowed, they weren't ever invited to be members either (to join, you had to know three current members to vouch for you)."
8. "I have spent 45+ years working at country clubs, and I love it. Serving in the dining rooms is better than most cash houses because you're not serving the general public. You will develop relationships because, over time, you will get to know all the members. I’m currently working in the evening dining room at a private club and have been there for 12 years — I only take care of members that have requested me, and that’s usually four to six tables a night. I take care of them, and they take care of me."
9. "Country clubs always find themselves in the middle of one nasty divorce or another. The divorce rate at this place is incredible! Keeping track of all the second, third, fourth, etc. marriages can be challenging — especially when both exes stay at the club."
10. "When I was serving at a country club, I had a member ask me how salted the mushroom lover's soup was that day, and because tastes vary, I offered to bring her a sample of the soup so she could decide. So I bring her a sample with some broth and one mushroom, and when I set it down, she immediately asked for my manager and complained about how I put a mushroom in the broth."
11. "We have to shut down the pool about three or four times a year because someone poops in the pool. One time this summer, we had a 'teen night' at the pool. The only 'kids' there were over 13, and one of them decided to be 'funny' and drop a log in the pool. Hilarious."
12. "Old money members tend to be a lot nicer than new money members, and are much better tippers — they have less to prove."
13. "My first serving job was at a country club and it was.....a LOT. One of our members pooped his pants at our First Friday event (a cocktail party where every club member sits down for dinner all at once and orders at the same time — aka a COMPLETE disaster) and refused to get up and clean himself up because he was so embarrassed. We had to throw the chair away!"
14. "Some of the members were very lovely people, but because they pay membership, a lot of them feel like they can treat you however they want. I had to deal with a lot more 'This is not what I ordered' bullsh*t than normal, and they would try to weasel out of paying for services. Some members would outright steal things, which was then frustrating for the members who actually paid for those items. The pay was enough to keep some of the waitstaff there for years, but as for the kitchen, it wasn't worth it."
15. "I worked as a part-time bartender at a country club for two years, and this was back in 1998–2000, I worked a six-hour shift every Saturday and Sunday, I averaged $175 in tips each day, and on holidays, a few of the members gave me envelopes with $100 bills in them. One man hired me to bartend for his daughter’s wedding — the gig lasted five hours and he paid me $1,000 cash, paid for my tux rental, picked me up and drove me home in a limo. People with money are like everyone else — if you treat them right, they'll take care of you."
16. "The majority of guests don't tip since it isn't required and is described to them as being 'included in their membership dues.'"
And lastly:
17. "One of the sweetest guys who comes in to workout every morning at 6 a.m. stopped to talk to me on my first day on the job. He asked me about school and other life stuff — nothing wild. Come to find out later, he's the head of a massive accounting firm in Atlanta and has a reported wealth of $2.6 billion. You'd never know it from seeing him sweaty on a treadmill!"
Answers edited for length and/or clarity.