Last night at work something happened that simply made me more outwardly angry than I have been in a very long. I would like to remind you all here, in case you have forgotten, that if you cannot afford to tip, then YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO GO OUT TO EAT. Why are there so many people who don't get this simple little principle? Last night at work, I served these two delightful ladies. Of course, I judged them immediately, which unfortunately happens to the best of us. However, none of my serving experience could have prepared me for what was to come. I served them and they got the best service I could have possibly given them. Everything came out perfectly and their food was hot. They did not have a single complaint about me or the restaurant. I ran their credit card and then waited paitently for my five dollar tip. They left and I waved, smiled, and said "Thank you so much. Please come back."
Luckily, I had some things to do before I actually picked up their credit card slip from the table. I had to get some refills and what not. It's a damn good thing too, becaue if they had still been there when I picked up the slip from the table, I would have lost my job. Hands down.
Not only did these delightful women not tip me, they also wrote the words "CAN'T AFFORD" in the tip slot. Actually they wrote the words "CAN'T OFFERED" because they could not spell afford.
I would have been much less insulted if they had just opted to not tip me. That, I half expected anyway. If they had still been in the restaurant I would have gone back to them, slamed their slip down and said, "If you can't afford to tip, you cannot afford the luxury of eating in restaurant. This is still America the last time I checked and in America WE TIP!"
I could not believe the audacity of those people. I'm sorry you can afford the most expensive dish on the menu and the upgrade from regular lemonade to strawberry lemonade, but you can't afford to tip me. I find that very hard to believe.
Thanks for listening, if anyone is, and please remember: Tipping is not a city in China. Please tip your servers.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
I am not a puppy....
I understand that sometimes in life, some people just simply did not get the genetic sturcture to be pleasant. Rudeness is passed down from generation to generation and eventually it becomes normal to be rude. It is a sad phenomonon, but we in the service industry have come to accept that most people think it is our fault that their life sucks.
Last night at work, a table of four sat down and I immediately knew that they would be rude, it would be someone's birthday, and they would be a good $5 tip at best. However, I was prepared for all of that. What I was not prepared for was for this woman, certainly not a lady, to snap her fingers at me as if I were a puppy who refuses to ues the bathroom outside. She might as well have sprayed me with a squirt bottle and hit my nose with newspaper.
UGH!!!!!!!!!
I greeted them and they lived up to all of my expectations. I walked away to give them a minute to decide, then I came back. Now, before I continue, I should say that this woman has been on her phone this entire time, from the second they walked in the door. While on the phone, she says and points... "it's his birfday." No friends, I didn't spell it incorrectly... Then everyone proceeds to order and as I am about to turn to her to ger her order she SNAPS HER FINGERS AT ME. Her three friends make "oh shit" looks at one another, and then look at me. I take a deep breath and count to 5. 10 would have been better, but we move quickly in this line of work.
I turn to her and I say, please don't snap your fingers at me again, I am a person, not a puppy.
I took her order and then made one of my lovely coworkers do their birfday song and I refused to speak to them for the rest of the night.
Their bill was around $80. I got $1.70. Hey at least I was only $3.30 off. People, just beause someone is waiting on you doesn't mean that they are incompetant, or deserve to be treated like rodents. I have two college degrees and this woman probably didn't even finish high school.
I just don't get it. So, be kind to your servers, and always remember, Tipping is not a city in China.
Last night at work, a table of four sat down and I immediately knew that they would be rude, it would be someone's birthday, and they would be a good $5 tip at best. However, I was prepared for all of that. What I was not prepared for was for this woman, certainly not a lady, to snap her fingers at me as if I were a puppy who refuses to ues the bathroom outside. She might as well have sprayed me with a squirt bottle and hit my nose with newspaper.
UGH!!!!!!!!!
I greeted them and they lived up to all of my expectations. I walked away to give them a minute to decide, then I came back. Now, before I continue, I should say that this woman has been on her phone this entire time, from the second they walked in the door. While on the phone, she says and points... "it's his birfday." No friends, I didn't spell it incorrectly... Then everyone proceeds to order and as I am about to turn to her to ger her order she SNAPS HER FINGERS AT ME. Her three friends make "oh shit" looks at one another, and then look at me. I take a deep breath and count to 5. 10 would have been better, but we move quickly in this line of work.
I turn to her and I say, please don't snap your fingers at me again, I am a person, not a puppy.
I took her order and then made one of my lovely coworkers do their birfday song and I refused to speak to them for the rest of the night.
Their bill was around $80. I got $1.70. Hey at least I was only $3.30 off. People, just beause someone is waiting on you doesn't mean that they are incompetant, or deserve to be treated like rodents. I have two college degrees and this woman probably didn't even finish high school.
I just don't get it. So, be kind to your servers, and always remember, Tipping is not a city in China.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
accomodating ignorance....
I know I haven't been in this blog in awhile, however something happened at my "glorious Job" two days ago and I can't seem to shake it. So, since that's why I am here, I am going to vent about it. Before I do, I would like to remind everyone that I wait tables in TIMES SQUARE. I would say that at least 75% of our staff is of the homosexual persuasion. I also would like to say that if you are opposed to that, then perhaps you shouldn't come to New York. Stay home and continue leading your boring lives.
So, a family from North Carolina comes in nearing the end of really long wait. They ask the host down stairs to seat them with a heterosexual waiter. The host immediately goes to a manager to present this absurd request. I can hear them now... " Hey some asshole downstairs wants a heterosexual waiter... should I just tell them to leave?"
Unfortunately the manager on that night happens to be one of those super corporate types who would never turn down a sale. So he goes downstairs and tells the family with three really pretty sons that we can accomodate their request, but it is going to be at least a 45 minute wait. The dad says something to the effect of "it's worth it for the experience."
Now, I am not of the homosexual persuasion, however, the majority of my friends are and I can't even put into words how angry this makes me. Let's put the ignorant family aside for now. How dare my manager not say something to the effect of, at the very least, "I'm sorry but we will be unable to accomodate your request." At the very least. What he should have said was something like "If you have a problem with that, then you don't need to be in our establishment because we wouldn't want you to catch the gay." Then he should have pointed them to the door and reminded them that we have the right to refuse service to anyone, and we don't even have to give them a reason.
I just don't see how $50 from some stupid family is worth upsetting everyone of your staff. The staff are the ones that if you didn't have, you couldn't remain open. The staff are the people who depend on you to take care of them and have their backs. How dare anyone not only pretend that this type of behavior is acceptable, but also reward them for it. Someone needs to inform those people that this is not only the 21st century, but that they seem to have forgotten what Jesus was actually preaching while he walked on the earth.
His number one message was love.
"You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbors as yourself. I am the Lord." Leviticus 20:2
"Love your enemies, bless those who curse, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." Matthew 5:44
"Love one another as I have also loved you." John 15:12
His number two message was don't judge.
"Judge not, that you be judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will also be judged. and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'let me remove the speck from your eye', and look, a plank is in your own eye. Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-6
Like I said before, if you have a problem with people and thier lives then just stay at home because nobody in the real world that is covered with a bubble wants to interact with you.
So, a family from North Carolina comes in nearing the end of really long wait. They ask the host down stairs to seat them with a heterosexual waiter. The host immediately goes to a manager to present this absurd request. I can hear them now... " Hey some asshole downstairs wants a heterosexual waiter... should I just tell them to leave?"
Unfortunately the manager on that night happens to be one of those super corporate types who would never turn down a sale. So he goes downstairs and tells the family with three really pretty sons that we can accomodate their request, but it is going to be at least a 45 minute wait. The dad says something to the effect of "it's worth it for the experience."
Now, I am not of the homosexual persuasion, however, the majority of my friends are and I can't even put into words how angry this makes me. Let's put the ignorant family aside for now. How dare my manager not say something to the effect of, at the very least, "I'm sorry but we will be unable to accomodate your request." At the very least. What he should have said was something like "If you have a problem with that, then you don't need to be in our establishment because we wouldn't want you to catch the gay." Then he should have pointed them to the door and reminded them that we have the right to refuse service to anyone, and we don't even have to give them a reason.
I just don't see how $50 from some stupid family is worth upsetting everyone of your staff. The staff are the ones that if you didn't have, you couldn't remain open. The staff are the people who depend on you to take care of them and have their backs. How dare anyone not only pretend that this type of behavior is acceptable, but also reward them for it. Someone needs to inform those people that this is not only the 21st century, but that they seem to have forgotten what Jesus was actually preaching while he walked on the earth.
His number one message was love.
"You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbors as yourself. I am the Lord." Leviticus 20:2
"Love your enemies, bless those who curse, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." Matthew 5:44
"Love one another as I have also loved you." John 15:12
His number two message was don't judge.
"Judge not, that you be judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will also be judged. and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'let me remove the speck from your eye', and look, a plank is in your own eye. Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-6
Like I said before, if you have a problem with people and thier lives then just stay at home because nobody in the real world that is covered with a bubble wants to interact with you.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
I just need a minute
Two days ago I fully intended to talk about the specific groups of people that as a server, irritate the hell out of me. However, tonight something happened that I simply can not ignore. Sometimes there is just that one person who sends you over the edge and you find yourself saying to everyone, "guys, I just need a minute."
On this particular, unseasonably slow evening, everything was going fine. The people were at least friendly, if not good tippers. The kitchen was executing everything very smoothly and everyone, including myself seemed to be in a good mood. Now, anyone who works in this business knows that these are usually the signs of the calm before the storm, but I apparently didn't get that memo tonight. For the first hour or so of my shift I even had "tonight's gonna be a good night" running happily through my head. Then I met him, and I could have lost my job tonight for the awful things that ran through my head.
When two people sit down at a table, whether we like it or not, we automatically assess them. We can't help it, it has become second nature. "Oh, ok, a good 15%." "Smooothies all around." "Ugh, they're gonna be here forever," etc. etc. However my immediate assessment of this particular table was "cool, they look nice." Well that my friends was way off.
At my job we are required to greet the guests and quickly inform them about everything they need to know to survive for the next hour, give or take, in our establishment. We don't go so far as to tell them where the fire exits are, but still the information is friendly and necessary. Tonight I went to my table and began with my usual speech. "Hey guys, how's it goin? If you need me do this... Here's my favorites... etc. etc."
With this particular couple I got as far as "how's it goin?" before the gentleman (which is clearly an obvious lie) Put his hand in my face and said "Stop speaking." I was in such a state of shock that I could not even form the words that would have actually gotten me fired if I had said them out loud. I know that the color left my face and for at least 30 seconds I stared at him as if he had just ran over my puppy with his car and said "oops." Finally I just walked away. I went into one of our side stations and said "guys, I just need a minute."
I still can't believe the audacity of a person who could actually be genetically so rude. How dare he speak to me that way when all I am doing is trying to make his experience at this establishment a little bit more enjoyable. Fuck you, dude. Its people like that who really cause servers to want to act like the cast of Waiting. Would I ever actually do something horrible and grotesque to his food? No, but I sure as hell wanted to.
The moral of this story is the next time you see someone who obviously doesn't have the best gig in the world, try smiling at them. Tell them a joke, make someones day, because there are a lot of ass holes in the world who try to bring other people down. Thanks for listening and always remember, Tipping is not a city in China.
On this particular, unseasonably slow evening, everything was going fine. The people were at least friendly, if not good tippers. The kitchen was executing everything very smoothly and everyone, including myself seemed to be in a good mood. Now, anyone who works in this business knows that these are usually the signs of the calm before the storm, but I apparently didn't get that memo tonight. For the first hour or so of my shift I even had "tonight's gonna be a good night" running happily through my head. Then I met him, and I could have lost my job tonight for the awful things that ran through my head.
When two people sit down at a table, whether we like it or not, we automatically assess them. We can't help it, it has become second nature. "Oh, ok, a good 15%." "Smooothies all around." "Ugh, they're gonna be here forever," etc. etc. However my immediate assessment of this particular table was "cool, they look nice." Well that my friends was way off.
At my job we are required to greet the guests and quickly inform them about everything they need to know to survive for the next hour, give or take, in our establishment. We don't go so far as to tell them where the fire exits are, but still the information is friendly and necessary. Tonight I went to my table and began with my usual speech. "Hey guys, how's it goin? If you need me do this... Here's my favorites... etc. etc."
With this particular couple I got as far as "how's it goin?" before the gentleman (which is clearly an obvious lie) Put his hand in my face and said "Stop speaking." I was in such a state of shock that I could not even form the words that would have actually gotten me fired if I had said them out loud. I know that the color left my face and for at least 30 seconds I stared at him as if he had just ran over my puppy with his car and said "oops." Finally I just walked away. I went into one of our side stations and said "guys, I just need a minute."
I still can't believe the audacity of a person who could actually be genetically so rude. How dare he speak to me that way when all I am doing is trying to make his experience at this establishment a little bit more enjoyable. Fuck you, dude. Its people like that who really cause servers to want to act like the cast of Waiting. Would I ever actually do something horrible and grotesque to his food? No, but I sure as hell wanted to.
The moral of this story is the next time you see someone who obviously doesn't have the best gig in the world, try smiling at them. Tell them a joke, make someones day, because there are a lot of ass holes in the world who try to bring other people down. Thanks for listening and always remember, Tipping is not a city in China.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Same Siders
I know that in the days since Waiter Rant became so popular, this blog might seem a bit out dated, however, I have been a server for over three years and I decided that if I am going to continue at that job, at least for now, then there are some things I need to get off my chest. Some of you know me and hopefully more of you will soon. I wait tables in Times Square as I am persuing other creative endeavors such as acting and writing.
As a server there are just many things that people do that annoy the crap out of me. I am going to avoid the obvious which is not tipping, and try to focus more on my own personal pet peeves. Today the people I have chosen to scrutinize are a group of people I like to call "Same Siders."
When I am about to greet a table and I am walking towards them, suddenly I see that there are only two of them and yes, they are sitting on the same side of the booth. It makes me throw up just a little bit in my mouth.
First of all, I will just say that "same siders" really irritate me. If all you want to do is make out then I feel as though you should just skip dinner, get a room, and gracefully go out after your sexcapades. It is not cute when two people, especially the ones over 40, hand feed each other and paw all over one another during their entire meal. First of all, just because you are in a booth does not mean you are in a private room. Hello, people can still see you, and it is not that appetizing to watch two people of any age, lick sauce off of each other's faces and make goo goo eyes at each other. And ladies, if you put on that dress and he brings you here, where you always leave smelling like something fried and left over, then maybe you should reconsider why you are dating him in the first place.
Now there are two groups of "Same Siders." The first I have already mentioned and the second is possibly worse, but perhaps a bit more tactful than the first.
The second group of these people wait until dessert and heni-ladas to move to the same side. Usually it is the man who innitiates the same side maneuver. Either he gets up and puts his arm proudly around his lady's shoulder as if to say "oh yeah, we're about to go have sex," or he looks at her and says something to the effect "baby, why don't you come over here, I'm gettin lonely."
Its disgusting. Its as if sitting on the same side of the booth is some sort of sick and twisted foreplay. She usually giggles, and then coyly gets up, sits down next to him and he starts nuzzling her neck, as if any of our drinks have enough alcohol in them to actually cause people to behave that way in a public establishment. Then he very masculinely asks for the check and then slips you a five, and says "come on baby, I'm tired." She giggles again, and they leave. Mission accomplished.
Everyone, I just want you to know that if you are a "same sider," everyone in the restaurant including the other guests are talking about you, and most of them don't wait until you leave. If you see someone walk by more times than you think they should, its because they are judging you. Period. Think about this before the next time you sit next to your sweetie pie in a public place. Please keep this in mind and remember always that Tipping is not a city in China.
As a server there are just many things that people do that annoy the crap out of me. I am going to avoid the obvious which is not tipping, and try to focus more on my own personal pet peeves. Today the people I have chosen to scrutinize are a group of people I like to call "Same Siders."
When I am about to greet a table and I am walking towards them, suddenly I see that there are only two of them and yes, they are sitting on the same side of the booth. It makes me throw up just a little bit in my mouth.
First of all, I will just say that "same siders" really irritate me. If all you want to do is make out then I feel as though you should just skip dinner, get a room, and gracefully go out after your sexcapades. It is not cute when two people, especially the ones over 40, hand feed each other and paw all over one another during their entire meal. First of all, just because you are in a booth does not mean you are in a private room. Hello, people can still see you, and it is not that appetizing to watch two people of any age, lick sauce off of each other's faces and make goo goo eyes at each other. And ladies, if you put on that dress and he brings you here, where you always leave smelling like something fried and left over, then maybe you should reconsider why you are dating him in the first place.
Now there are two groups of "Same Siders." The first I have already mentioned and the second is possibly worse, but perhaps a bit more tactful than the first.
The second group of these people wait until dessert and heni-ladas to move to the same side. Usually it is the man who innitiates the same side maneuver. Either he gets up and puts his arm proudly around his lady's shoulder as if to say "oh yeah, we're about to go have sex," or he looks at her and says something to the effect "baby, why don't you come over here, I'm gettin lonely."
Its disgusting. Its as if sitting on the same side of the booth is some sort of sick and twisted foreplay. She usually giggles, and then coyly gets up, sits down next to him and he starts nuzzling her neck, as if any of our drinks have enough alcohol in them to actually cause people to behave that way in a public establishment. Then he very masculinely asks for the check and then slips you a five, and says "come on baby, I'm tired." She giggles again, and they leave. Mission accomplished.
Everyone, I just want you to know that if you are a "same sider," everyone in the restaurant including the other guests are talking about you, and most of them don't wait until you leave. If you see someone walk by more times than you think they should, its because they are judging you. Period. Think about this before the next time you sit next to your sweetie pie in a public place. Please keep this in mind and remember always that Tipping is not a city in China.
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