RTP-area local music and culture

[Bo Williams <bowilliams AT gmail.com>]

This is, honestly, the first time I've ever heard anyone complain
about wait staff asking if you need change. As far as I can remember,
it's something they've always done in more-fancy places where odds are
either a) you're paying with a card or b) you actually don't need
change.


On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 10:55:50 -0500, grady <grady AT ibiblio.org> wrote:
> 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 --
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> >
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> 
>