RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Thanks, Rick.

It is true that it did happen recently at Rick's place d'emploi. Had it 
just been there, however, I would've just chalked it up to a bad night 
or a harried waiter or whatever. Despite my lengthy yammering, I'm not 
really that obsessed with this issue, and it honestly didn't detract 
from my evening.

I posted because it had happened several times in a relatively short 
period of time, and despite my best efforts it has lately lodged itself 
in my brain as a peeve. Sometimes all it takes to dislodge such a thing 
is to bitch about it (or more to the point, sometimes I can't stop 
myself ;-) ).

I've had a few conversations about this offlist, and while I will cling 
to the death to my perhaps-antiquated notions of what top-flight 
restaurant service entails, I'm ever-more-mindful of the various 
mitigating factors that have been brought up. Specifically, the decline 
of cash (I finally started using a credit card to buy gas because the 
whole driveoff thing has made it excruciating to try & pay cash in 
advance to fill yr tank, but it was a sad day for me) *and* the bizarre 
existence of this apparently very real subset of patrons who don't like 
to receive change & who are apparently as cranky as I am about it.

I liked the scheme Rick! referenced re: "I'll be right back with your 
change . . . " with the half-second pause for the customer's "no need, 
my good man!" but as that would have to come from the server's side, I 
can't really do much about it.

One possibility suggested (I'm not gonna say if I'm the one who 
suggested it to myself, though I may have) would be to alert the server 
ahead of time that I'm a cranky sonofabitch, but that hardly seems like 
a good idea. Although I have been known to advise a waiter on occasion 
that keeping the water filled was my only service criterion. But I 
swear, I was really thirsty that night.

Nevertheless, it is even *less* advisable to expect a server to be able 
to read minds, so I expect I will either have to loosen my standards or 
find a way to gently subtly advise the server of my apparently esoteric 
needs without sounding like a sociopath.

I *do* love a challenge!

OK. Back to the project that I *should* be devoting this time to: 
visiting all these goddamn local-band websites & downloading MP3s so I 
can play these consarned ungrateful local bands' music on the radio 
since they're all too goddamn lazy to burn a CD & drop it by the radio 
station.

xo

Ross

p.s. so far, Monsonia (OK, they actually *sent* a CD, so they get 
extra-credit) and Fake Swedish are winning whatever prizes I'm handing out.

igou AT unc.edu wrote:
> as a restaurant professional, i feel both qualified and compelled to
> comment on ross's experience and opinion. (see thread "note to 
> waitpersons" for reference...)
>
> as the manager of one of the restaurants to which he refers (although he 
> most graciously omits names in his postings, as best i can tell he was in
> my place of employment on one of the dates he notes), i also feel 
> obligated.
>
> yes, ross, i fully agree with you that it is rude to ask a guest if they 
> need or want change when picking up a cash payment from a table. this 
> should not have occured in my restaurant and if it indeed did you have my 
> apology. i assure you that i will remind my entire staff that they should 
> not ask this question, ever.
>
> as to your inquiry, i can offer several reasons that a server might ask 
> such a question:
>
> first, as you and others have noted, is a desire to "save steps," either 
> from laziness or efficiency (two sides of the same motivational coin). 
>
> second, as a subset of the first, the restaurant -- or server, themselves 
> (note that many, if not most, restaurants now require servers to carry 
> their own banks and settle with the house at the end of service) -- may be 
> short of change and smaller bills and attempting to avoid a lengthy 
> change-out process when it is not needed. (as 3 pointed out correctly, 
> very little cash is exchanged in restaurants, especially those with higher 
> costs.)
>
> and, third, it is true that some guests do react negatively when brought 
> change, as if insulted that you think them too cheap to tip that much. a 
> server may have been burned by that before.
>
> please note that a server will rarely, if ever, ask if you want change if 
> they perceive you aren't leaving enough tip; they will, instead, hurry to 
> get you your change before you leave so you can see the amount and realize 
> what is hoped to be an error. (that is if they are able to calculate the 
> gratuity in a snap -- a difficult task as you rightly noted.) if a server
> is paying attention and can calulate and they ask if you want change -- an
> unlikely combination of events, but not impossible -- the implication is that
> you left TOO MUCH gratuity, not too little. (is this, then, a compliment? 
> i leave that up to your evaluation.)
>
> finally, assuming you will continue to pay cash for restaurant 
> transactions (which is entirely correct, though you do still pay the 
> extra 2% or so that all businesses charge to cover credit card 
> transactions) there is an easy way to prevent a server from asking this 
> rude question: keep your hand on the tip tray and, when the server 
> approaches to pick it up, turn to them and say, "may i please have change 
> for this?" or, better yet, specify exactly the change you want -- 1's, 
> 5's, 10's and so on -- so you don't have to send them back again to break 
> that 20 you didn't want.
>
> flames to my email, only, please.
>
> (and, i implore you, please, please, please don't cross-post this to 
> triangle.dining. please.)
>
> you guys get back to music and i'll get back to lurking.
>
> xxoo.
>
> -ri
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
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