RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Hey man, if nobody says anything, nothing will ever change.

Keep in mind that some of us still live in the South, where the notion 
of a friendly helpful waiter is not utterly dead just yet.

In any case, I'm partly just curious about how this meme originated & 
spread. Did everybody just simultaneously think of it, or was there some 
kind of memo?

Ross

Bo Williams wrote:
> Best of luck, Mr. Quixote!
>
>
> On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 10:45:55 -0500, grady <grady AT ibiblio.org> wrote:
>
> > 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
> >
> > -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
>
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
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