'I was the one that paid the $500': Server forced to pay the bill after table of 11 dines and dashes

The most infuriating part of this story is how common this phenomenon seems to be among other servers. Several folks in the comments section of this Reddit thread pointed out that they too would be forced to pay up if any of their customers dined and dashed at a restaurant. Not only is this completely unfair, but this kind of policy is certainly not going to create a sense of loyalty among the restaurant staff. The underlying concept here is that it's the server's fault for allowing customers to get away without paying for their meals, as if thieves can always be detected in advance. This policy also operates under the assumption that servers don't have a million tables to be covering at any given time. How are they supposed to be watching one customer's every sudden movement when they have a million other orders to take? 

In short, this kind of policy along with so many policies that our servers have to deal with, is absolute nonsense. OP should not have had to pay a $500 bill because a seemingly unassuming family of 11 that included both children and grandparents decided to make a run for it before the check arrived. Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions in the comments section. Once again, one of the more upsetting revelations here is that this practice is more commonplace than one might think. For more stories like this, check out this more wholesome collection of "tales from your server!"