Restaurant charges customers for asking 'stupid questions'

There are some idioms and "timeless pearls of wisdom" that are actually completely bogus. A big one is "there's no such thing as stupid questions", a sentiment with which one Colorado restaurant disagree vehemently. 

Tom's Diner in Denver, Colorado, apparently hits you with a $0.38 charge every time you ask them something they deem stupid. And it's not a joke — they actually put it on your bill.

Redditor humblemangoes must be one of those people who can't help themselves from asking stupid questions, because they snapped a photo of their receipt from the eatery to prove Tom's makes good on their stupid question surcharge promise. 

Along with their mashed potatoes and a basket of chicken tenders (incredible combination), it seems this redditor also asked one single, stupid question. While a lot of people thought that the receipt was a joke and manually entered onto the itemized receipt, as it turns out, the dumb questions are actually listed on the menu. 

The manager of the establishment, Hunter Landry, said in an interview with TODAY Food that "It's meant to be playful. It's good to keep things light in today's world. When we have a good fun table that engages with us or when they ask about the charge, it's always fun to add it on." 

Thrillist reported that it was meant to penalize those  out there who have an affinity for dad jokes. Hunter said some favorite questions he loves to charge for are, "Does the ice have any water in it?" or "are there any dues for the turkey club sandwich?" OK, I'm not going to lie, I would've found those sort of quips lamentable before I had kids, but now that I'm reading them, I'm kinda chuckling to myself. 

I guess that means I'd incur a couple 38-cent charges, a fee that was dropped ten cents at some point. Hunter decided to lower the charge from 48 cents because he didn't want to "gouge people." Whatta swell guy. 

If you still think it's a scam, it turns out other Redditors confirmed the stupid charge actually exists. 

One user, Uhhlecksus, says they used to work there and not only is the charge real, but it'd be added to the ticket order and would show up on the list of items for the kitchen to prepare. Someone asked for an example of a stupid question, to which another user simply quoted their own question back at them. Nice. 

Others just shared their own experiences of stupid questions at the restaurants they worked at, like, "How many tacos come in a 3 pack?" Or "What's the difference between a cheeseburger and a burger?" I guess the questioners were absent on "context clues" day. 

Others wanted to know if stupid remarks were charged less than stupid questions, which I hope is the case if I ever visit Tom's, because I can never keep my mouth shut. "If it's called 'prime' rib, it must think very highly of itself." 

And if there's an extra charge for tepid or no laughter, I'd probably have to fork over $20 without actually even getting any food. Maybe then I'll finally learn to keep my mouth shut. 

This article was originally published on January 14, 2020. It has since been updated.