Smith hired a lawyer and pleaded not guilty immediately after being charged in March. Her trial was scheduled for this month but has been bumped to August. She says she didn't do it.

I'll have a hard time mustering much outrage if it turns out she did.

Something might have pushed her over the edge - something like the change and lint balls in a diner's pocket.

Summit County prosecutors say Smith altered several tabs, overcharging Ghidotti's customers $10 here or $20 there - more than $1,000 total. They figure a bad tip sent her on a spree. She has been charged with felony theft. County Attorney David Brickey prosecuted two similar cases last year.

For hotel and restaurant owners, Smith's case is a public-relations nightmare.

"It's dishonest. It's inexcusable," says Deer Valley Food and Beverage Director Julie Wilson. "I would hope our employees don't do it because they're honest. We put a lot of emphasis on our guests. I've never heard of it happening here - and I've been here 27 years."

But Deer Valley, like Bambara and other white-linen restaurants, also pays more than the $2.13 minimum wage most Utah servers make. That wage is just enough to cover taxes.

''I never see a paycheck,'' says Alison, a server at Thaifoon restaurant in The Gateway.

Dodo server Thomas' checks are a statement: "This is not a check."

Utah servers depend on tips. So the difference between 10 percent and 20 percent - that extra dollar for a sandwich - can make or break a server. Despite Web sites with tips for tipping - CNNMoney and wisegeek.com - and restaurants that calculate the tip for you - Salt Lake City's Caffe Molise lists 15, 20 and 25 percent tips on each check - Utahns still have trouble figuring out what to tip.

"A lot of people think 10 percent is enough. It really isn't," says Thomas, the quintessential 29-year-old struggling actor. "It's not McDonald's. It's not a drive-up. It's service. And what we have in our hand at the end of the day pays our bills."

Alison says 10 percent tips say ''you suck'' to a server; 15 percent means adequate service; 20 percent is ''good job''; and 25 percent is a reward. A 28-year-old student on the "11-year degree plan," she splits her tips with the kitchen staff, bartenders and busers. And she has been stiffed three times in less than a year.

On the other hand, Bambara server Jesse says he's never not been tipped - in 2 1/2 months serving the business and out-of-town clientele dining at the Hotel Monaco and in three years working at Salt Lake City's Melting Pot restaurant.

It's easier to tip for a meal at Denny's than at the Metropolitan. Most of the time, Smith and other servers are caught at Utah's nexus of low wages and big families. But Smith was serving Park City's apres-ski crowd - a bunch who should know better than to stiff a server.

Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James apparently doesn't know how to tip. A week ago, he reportedly left a $10 tip for an $800 bill - after keeping a steakhouse's staff up until 4 a.m. Celebrities from Michael Moore to Madonna also reportedly skimp on their restaurant bills.

Wait staff can define a dining experience.

But outside of Manhattan and Paris, where serving is a respected career, false perceptions of American egalitarianism and free market theory allow diners and restaurant owners to snub the job. If servers made a living wage, tipping wouldn't matter.

I'm starting to feel guilty about that 18 percent tip I left at lunch last week. "There's still time to redeem yourself," Thomas, the Dodo server, assures me.

walsh@sltrib.com