Note to waitpersons

grady grady at ibiblio.org
Mon Jan 17 10:45:55 EST 2005


1) I've worked in customer service for 10 years & if I'm doing something 
wrong I expect the customer to tell me about it
2) I always tip well
3) I (unlike the other poster, I guess) will cut almost infinite slack 
for anybody stuck waiting tables anyplace where the napkins are paper & 
the drinkware is plastic. That's a whole different situation.

I was speaking specifically of waitstaff at joints where the entrees are 
in the $18-25 range and the bills can easily hit the triple-digits 
without too much difficulty. If I'm going to buy into a system where I'm 
willingly paying a shitload of money for food, it would be nice if the 
waitstaff would also buy into the same system. If they don't want to 
make change, they should go get a job at a restaurant where the customer 
takes the money to the register himself.

xo

Ross

John Iwaniszek wrote:
> Steven Keith wrote:
> 
> 
> yeah!  It's been happening to me for 40 years!  Those damned wait people and 
> their self-serving ways!  It's almost like they do it to piss me, alone, off.  
> or save themselves some steps on a busy night. Or something.  How thoughtless 
> of them. 
> 
> Nancy Reagan was right.
> 
> 
> 
>>I have wanted to say this (much less thoughtfully and exceedingly less
>>eloquent) for 5 years.  Thank you. Happened again at Elmos in Durham
>>Saturday morning. 
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: ch-scene-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
>>[mailto:ch-scene-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of grady
>>Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 1:07 PM
>>To: RTP-area local music and culture
>>Subject: Note to waitpersons
>>
>>Hello, waitpeople. Thank you very much for carrying hot plates & 
>>enduring abuse from the kitchen *and* the customers, and answering dumb 
>>questions, and pretending screwups were your fault even when they
>>weren't.
>>
>>There is just one thing I'd like to ask of you:
>>
>>Stop asking me "do you need any change?" Just stop it. It is demeaning 
>>to both of us.
>>
>>It makes you sound either greedy, or lazy, or both, and it implies that 
>>I'm going to undertip you unless you put me on the spot with your 
>>question. (by the way, I'm not; 20% has been my minimum for many years 
>>now, and you've really got to work your ass off to be a jerk for me to 
>>even drop you to 15%)
>>
>>I understand that waitpeople are too often overworked & burdened with 
>>too many tables & too much to remember. However, that's the whole of the
>>
>>job. That's what being a waitperson is all about. You wouldn't walk up 
>>to the table & say "do you need water? because I'm really busy right
>>now."
>>
>>Certainly if you're one of those poor bastards stuck waiting tables at a
>>
>>joint like Elmo's, where the average check is like $15 and you're 
>>covering like 20 tables, then it's understandable that you wouldn't want
>>
>>to waste a single trip, and it might be forgivable for you to ask about 
>>the change.
>>
>>But three times in the past 6 weeks, at three different "nice" 
>>restaurants (as in 3.5-4 stars in all the local dining guides), with 
>>two-person totals ranging between $55 and $115, I've been asked "Do you 
>>need change?" It totally blows the whole illusion of 
>>effortless-dining-experience that you & your fellow restaurant employees
>>
>>have spent the entire evening trying to maintain.
>>
>>When you tie on the apron & pick up that pad & pencil, you're pledging 
>>yourself to help other people. You're committing to help the customers 
>>locate & order & receive the food that's going to make them the 
>>happiest. You're probably also committing to help the chef or owner get 
>>rid of that terrible surplus of fennel that's clogging up the fridge, 
>>but we don't need to talk about that, because it's your job to pretend 
>>you're not doing that.
>>
>>One thing you're *not* doing is pledging to help yourself. For the 
>>duration of your shift, helping yourself should be way at the bottom of 
>>the list.
>>
>>And yet the question "do you need any change?" can only be construed as 
>>you attempting to help yourself. It is in no way helpful to me. If I 
>>need change, then I need change. If I don't need change, then I'm free 
>>to get up & leave the restaurant as soon as I've put the money on the 
>>tray, and it doesn't really matter to me what you do with any change 
>>that might be left. Asking me whether I need change does not help you 
>>help me in any way.
>>
>>Last night a waiter asked me that & I said "please don't ask me that, 
>>it's terribly rude" and he stammered a bit & said something about it 
>>being really busy, as if somehow he were too busy to perform this last 
>>relatively minor chore & he'd prefer that we just get the fuck up out of
>>
>>our seats & get out the door and quit hassling him & his colleagues with
>>
>>our continued presence.
>>
>>I don't know where this bizarre "need change?" meme came from; I don't 
>>really remember hearing it until 3-4 years ago. Perhaps it has gotten 
>>worse in this age of utter credit-card dominance; I nearly always pay 
>>with cash & perhaps it's such a novelty that even higher-end waitstaff 
>>haven't been trained on how to behave.
>>
>>So here's the lowdown: take the money to the register. Cash out. Bring 
>>back change that contains at least 3 ones; this means that if the change
>>
>>ends in a 5, 6, or 7, you bring 5, 6, or 7 ones, not a five and a couple
>>
>>of ones. Put the change on the table. Take this opportunity to thank the
>>
>>customers once more for coming (studies have shown, by the way that a 
>>single final thank you has a higher impact on tip, than general good 
>>service throughout the meal).
>>
>>Thank you,
>>
>>Ross




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