Work today reminded me why some people just annoy me lots. If you go into a restaurant and wish to read your paper, ask for a bigger table when you come in.... don't move tables around just because you feel like it.
So guy comes in today and sits at a single table in another server's section. After ordering his food he decided that he wanted a bigger table so he moves the table closest to him. Turns out this table was in my section and made my only 4-top at the window a deuce. I went up and asked him if he would be able to use the table to his right since he was taking up tables in two sections. He looked at me and said: "What's the difference? You have like a 100 tables available and I want to read my paper." I explained that he was taken my only table at the window and if he just used the table on the other side he wouldn't be taking tables in two sections. He looked at me and said maybe I'll just leave then.
"Well, there's no need to do that sir. We'll just move this table instead and you can have a bigger table and keep all the tables in their proper sections."
"I'm feeling like I'm not welcome here. You've ruined my breakfast by doing this," he said to me. "I mean, who is more important? The customer or the waiter?"
"The customer is very important sir, but you can't just take tables away from sections so the waiter in that section isn't able to make money."
I moved the other table over and moved my table back, offered to refill his coffee and went back to check on my other table in my section. I'm sure it seems a little petty but I'm sorry. I do believe that the customer is mostly right, but that they don't have the right to disrupt the restaurant. They can't move furniture just to read their paper. Especially when there are lots of tables around.
But that's just the view from my side of the menu.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Joy, Rapture and I Can't believe I said that... Part 1
Off today but want to keep the flow going so Flashback Time.
A couple of months ago I was working a weekend shift (which is a regular thing for me) and I had a table of 6 people, 3 guys and 3 girls. It was early afternoon on a Sunday so they were mostly having breakfast. I got a nice rapport going with them, refilling coffees before they were desperately needed, joking about this and that and over all being charming. Time came for the bill and I asked: "Will this be all on one bill or six bills or some combination thereof?"... same as I ask every table of 2 or more. They told me that it was separate bills so I went to print them off. Usually when printing multiple bills I tear them off the printer individually but for some reason I let them all print and took them to the table in one long paper. As I approached the table, one of the women said: "Wow, that's really long." and before my internal censor could kick in I replied with a "That's what she said!".
The woman looked at me and said: "Did you 'That's what she said'-ed me?" and I looked her right in the eye and said "Apparently I did! And I'm not sure how that one slipped out." to which she replied: "That's what she said!" I conceited defeated, separated the bills and placed them on the table. Tips were LARGE on that table..... all thanks to a slip of the tongue...!
But that's just the view from my side of the menu.
A couple of months ago I was working a weekend shift (which is a regular thing for me) and I had a table of 6 people, 3 guys and 3 girls. It was early afternoon on a Sunday so they were mostly having breakfast. I got a nice rapport going with them, refilling coffees before they were desperately needed, joking about this and that and over all being charming. Time came for the bill and I asked: "Will this be all on one bill or six bills or some combination thereof?"... same as I ask every table of 2 or more. They told me that it was separate bills so I went to print them off. Usually when printing multiple bills I tear them off the printer individually but for some reason I let them all print and took them to the table in one long paper. As I approached the table, one of the women said: "Wow, that's really long." and before my internal censor could kick in I replied with a "That's what she said!".
The woman looked at me and said: "Did you 'That's what she said'-ed me?" and I looked her right in the eye and said "Apparently I did! And I'm not sure how that one slipped out." to which she replied: "That's what she said!" I conceited defeated, separated the bills and placed them on the table. Tips were LARGE on that table..... all thanks to a slip of the tongue...!
But that's just the view from my side of the menu.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Joy, Rapture and Non-tippers
Servers make minimum wage. Not the regular minimum wage either, they make Server's Minimum Wage. That's the gouvernment way of saying.... You have a menial job but people are expected to give you a gratuity at the end of your time with them so congratulations.... you are going to make less per hour doing that menial job than every other person out there with a menial job.
So I now have a message for all those people who don't tip their servers.
Open Letter to those people who don't tip:
FUCK YOU
But that's just the view from my side of the menu.
So I now have a message for all those people who don't tip their servers.
Open Letter to those people who don't tip:
FUCK YOU
But that's just the view from my side of the menu.
Joy, Rapture and Regulars
The restaurant I work at has a Monday to Friday (excluding Holidays) breakfast special. Breakfast with coffee comes to under 5 bucks. There are a lot of business people who come in for this special and I'm not sure if its on purpose or just plain ignorance but they have a tendency of ticking us off. This is for them.
Open Letter to Breakfast Regulars:
First I would like to say Thank You. Thank you for choosing our restaurant to spend your money at, but there may be something that you don't realize and when I tell you this, I'm not doing it to be insulting or rude. Sometimes we don't see that we are acting a certain way unless someone points it out so I thought I would shine a light in that direction today.
I understand that you are there almost every day (well, almost every morning.... when the special is available..... you know, when the breakfast is cheap) but you can't just walk past a line of people waiting to be sat and seat yourself because you're a regular. For all you know some of the people you butted in front of in line could be regulars as well, they're just being polite and allowing the hostess to seat them where she knows they will be served quickly.
Just because we try to give you a menu, please don't be offended. I know you have the exact same thing every single day that you eat at the Restaurant but occasionally we have new staff that don't know you. Or maybe this is the morning you want to break out of the routine and order something different. The world won't end if you have pancakes this morning instead of eggs and bacon.
When someone comes up to you and says "Good Morning!" the proper response is "Good Morning!" not, "Coffee!", "I'll have the Special." or silence. I understand that you feel you are more important than your server. After all you have a job in a big old office and we are just menial labourers who bring you your food but if we grunted and responded at you the way you do at us you would complain to our bosses about our attitude and tip us less because you thought we were rude.
Speaking of tipping.... breakfast is the one meal of the day where a 15% tip might not be enough. During lunch or dinner, your server is at your table a total of maybe 6 times. Once to get your drink order, once to get your food order, once to deliver your food, one or two qualilty checks and finally to ask for dessert and deliver a bill. During the quality checks they may refill drinks or grab you something that is missing, a condiment or such. And when its done, they are rewarded with a tip that is usually at least 15% of the meal.
During breakfast, a meal that when you get the Special costs under 5 bucks with tax your server is at your table at least 10 times. Plus since most people always down their first cup of coffee so the server may have to refill the coffee at least once before the food arrives and once more when the food arrives. And after multiple trips, some sparked by you waving from across the room and shaking your coffee cup at your server or (my personal favorite) by you getting up and interrupting your server while they are at another table taking someone's order because your cup is empty and you can't wait two minutes for more coffee, you reward the server with a 15% tip. 15% of a bill that is under 5 bucks is less than a buck. Usually its around 83 cents. Kids in sweatshops make more than 83 cents and take less abuse than your breakfast server does.
Or worse than that is when you decide that even after your server made 5 trips to your table for coffee refills and you lingered enjoying your last few sips because you had time (and hogging the table so your server loses the chance to turn it and make more money) you didn't like the way the eggs were cooked or the bacon was too crispy or not crispy enough. And while the service was fine, you feel you must protest so you don't tip your server. So now they are worse than the kids in the sweatshop. They are now your slaves.
Finally, sometimes when your regular server isn't there, you have to be served by someone else. And I know that Judy knows what you have in the morning and just sends it to the kitchen when you walk through the door, but Judy isn't here today and you should also know what you have in the morning for breakfast.... you are able to tell me too. Please don't let it ruin your day. Change doesn't have to be bad.
But that's just the view from my side of the menu.
Open Letter to Breakfast Regulars:
First I would like to say Thank You. Thank you for choosing our restaurant to spend your money at, but there may be something that you don't realize and when I tell you this, I'm not doing it to be insulting or rude. Sometimes we don't see that we are acting a certain way unless someone points it out so I thought I would shine a light in that direction today.
I understand that you are there almost every day (well, almost every morning.... when the special is available..... you know, when the breakfast is cheap) but you can't just walk past a line of people waiting to be sat and seat yourself because you're a regular. For all you know some of the people you butted in front of in line could be regulars as well, they're just being polite and allowing the hostess to seat them where she knows they will be served quickly.
Just because we try to give you a menu, please don't be offended. I know you have the exact same thing every single day that you eat at the Restaurant but occasionally we have new staff that don't know you. Or maybe this is the morning you want to break out of the routine and order something different. The world won't end if you have pancakes this morning instead of eggs and bacon.
When someone comes up to you and says "Good Morning!" the proper response is "Good Morning!" not, "Coffee!", "I'll have the Special." or silence. I understand that you feel you are more important than your server. After all you have a job in a big old office and we are just menial labourers who bring you your food but if we grunted and responded at you the way you do at us you would complain to our bosses about our attitude and tip us less because you thought we were rude.
Speaking of tipping.... breakfast is the one meal of the day where a 15% tip might not be enough. During lunch or dinner, your server is at your table a total of maybe 6 times. Once to get your drink order, once to get your food order, once to deliver your food, one or two qualilty checks and finally to ask for dessert and deliver a bill. During the quality checks they may refill drinks or grab you something that is missing, a condiment or such. And when its done, they are rewarded with a tip that is usually at least 15% of the meal.
During breakfast, a meal that when you get the Special costs under 5 bucks with tax your server is at your table at least 10 times. Plus since most people always down their first cup of coffee so the server may have to refill the coffee at least once before the food arrives and once more when the food arrives. And after multiple trips, some sparked by you waving from across the room and shaking your coffee cup at your server or (my personal favorite) by you getting up and interrupting your server while they are at another table taking someone's order because your cup is empty and you can't wait two minutes for more coffee, you reward the server with a 15% tip. 15% of a bill that is under 5 bucks is less than a buck. Usually its around 83 cents. Kids in sweatshops make more than 83 cents and take less abuse than your breakfast server does.
Or worse than that is when you decide that even after your server made 5 trips to your table for coffee refills and you lingered enjoying your last few sips because you had time (and hogging the table so your server loses the chance to turn it and make more money) you didn't like the way the eggs were cooked or the bacon was too crispy or not crispy enough. And while the service was fine, you feel you must protest so you don't tip your server. So now they are worse than the kids in the sweatshop. They are now your slaves.
Finally, sometimes when your regular server isn't there, you have to be served by someone else. And I know that Judy knows what you have in the morning and just sends it to the kitchen when you walk through the door, but Judy isn't here today and you should also know what you have in the morning for breakfast.... you are able to tell me too. Please don't let it ruin your day. Change doesn't have to be bad.
But that's just the view from my side of the menu.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Joy, Rapture and Drunk Guy
I work at a restaurant in downtown Ottawa, ON, Canada. Lots of tourists, lots of business people and occasionally, like this morning, lots of drunks.
My morning started off wonderfully today. Had someone come up to me and ask if I knew there was a drunk guy passed out near the washrooms. My response was: "No. Something like that I try to deal with right away." I went up to the washrooms and saw the guy, mostly passed out and smelling of Listerine, urine and I'm pretty sure feces. On top of the payphone is an empty bottle of Listerine and on the floor below is the guy and he can barely move. I call the cops from my cellphone and they ask me to give a brief description of the guy. They then tell me that someone will be right over (we are located about 6 blocks away from the Police Station).
At this point I should be serving tables and making tips but my customers are sitting one story down and in the care of my co-worker. Drunky McMouthwash lifts his head and tells me that he's just going to lie here for a little longer. I inform him that the cops are on their way and he tells me not to call the cops. My response is: "Sorry, already have." and he tells me that I'm a prick. He calls me a prick twice more and then tells me that he didn't mean it.
I'm fairly sure that if someone calls you a prick three times in one conversation, he means it.
The cops arrive and they take him away. I go downstairs and see my customers. One is annoyed that I disappeared and tips me a dollar for two breakfasts. Luckily only had three tables at the time so didn't lose too much money because of this guy.
Sidenote: When the cops arrived, they must have recognized the guy because they asked where his Listerine bottle was. Apparently cops get regulars too.
My morning started off wonderfully today. Had someone come up to me and ask if I knew there was a drunk guy passed out near the washrooms. My response was: "No. Something like that I try to deal with right away." I went up to the washrooms and saw the guy, mostly passed out and smelling of Listerine, urine and I'm pretty sure feces. On top of the payphone is an empty bottle of Listerine and on the floor below is the guy and he can barely move. I call the cops from my cellphone and they ask me to give a brief description of the guy. They then tell me that someone will be right over (we are located about 6 blocks away from the Police Station).
At this point I should be serving tables and making tips but my customers are sitting one story down and in the care of my co-worker. Drunky McMouthwash lifts his head and tells me that he's just going to lie here for a little longer. I inform him that the cops are on their way and he tells me not to call the cops. My response is: "Sorry, already have." and he tells me that I'm a prick. He calls me a prick twice more and then tells me that he didn't mean it.
I'm fairly sure that if someone calls you a prick three times in one conversation, he means it.
The cops arrive and they take him away. I go downstairs and see my customers. One is annoyed that I disappeared and tips me a dollar for two breakfasts. Luckily only had three tables at the time so didn't lose too much money because of this guy.
Sidenote: When the cops arrived, they must have recognized the guy because they asked where his Listerine bottle was. Apparently cops get regulars too.
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