RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

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