Joy, Rapture and the "Oh... just one more thing" customers.

I serve for a living. This isn't a job for me, its how I pay for my mortgage, for my hobbies, for my food and clothing, for all my expenses. And as such, I have to respect the people who pay my way. And I don't mean my employer, I'll always respect my employer! I mean the people who tip me so I make more than minimum wage.

That being said it is with the utmost respect to all customers when I tell you about a server's biggest pet peeve. The "Oh, just one more thing" customer.

Every server has served one of these people. And we hate them. Perhaps hate is not the right word! We despise them! This is the person who always needs one more thing. When you bring them their coffee, they need sweetener. When you bring their breakfast, they need marmalade. When you offer to refill their coffee, they want a glass of water. When you bring them a cookie, they want a glass of milk! Oh, wait... that's a mouse, not a customer... never mind!

These customers suck the servers time and energy out of them. For every one trip the server makes to another table, they make three trips to this table. These customers are beyond needy and although they say they appreciate the effort that the server is making to help them, it is hardly ever shown in the tip. The "Oh... just one more thing" customers are notorious for tipping around 10 % but telling their server how much they enjoyed the service.

If you are one of those people, please... for the love of God and all things holy.... adjust the way you behave in a restaurant. Your server is busy and while they want to provide the best possible service for you, they also have other customers who deserve to have exceptional service as well. Let me put it this way. If you were at your job and you had to do a task for your boss and when you thought you were completed the task, your boss decided to tack another thing onto your job what would your reaction be? Its the same thing when you make your server make multiple trips to your table. If you are missing something, let them know everything you need so they only have to make one trip. And reward them for good service. 15% is a polite tip but if your server is making more than three trips to your table, 20% is better. Reward for a job overdone.

But that's just the view from my side of the menu.