Waiting tables, day in and day out, can turn a person into a really mean sonofabitch...the kind of person that even if every seat in an establishment was occupied except for the one next to him, I'd opt to remain standing.
You always wonder why the guy behind the bar is such a grouch. "What's up his ass?" is the typical thought most people have. It's years of having other customers shit in his Wheaties, that's what.
I hate to admit this, but it's 100% true, after serving in several establishments in different cities with different demographics, there are stereotypes that emerge-- and I know it's not nice, but I am only being honest. This is true for what we believe you will order, how you will treat us, to how you tip.
What I'd like to talk about is the tipping. Yes, money does make the world go round. It also pays my bills. Even I am guilty of getting a certain table, and cringing because I know (intuition perhaps) I won't receive more than ten percent if I'm LUCKY, because hell the stereotype says..... Don't sit there, behind your computer and shake your head saying, "Oh no, not me. Never would I..." because then you would be a horrible liar as well. We're all guilty of it, and you're right. It's nothing to be proud of.
I have worked at places where certain tables get nicknamed. A sampling of the names I've heard are "Fifties Diners," "Penny Pinchers," "Monday's," and "Canadians." The rest aren't so nice.
Yes, we know it's horribly cruel and absolutely not fair to the individual, but when one particular group only perpetuates the stereotype we servers can't help but keep it to a generalization.
A week ago I had a table and...as most of my stories do start-- I knew I'd have my tuckus ran, and boy did I ever. Five different appetizers. Multiple rounds of drinks. Several main dishes. Dessert. Coffees.
The tab rounded up nearly to three hundred. Of course, any server at this point knew they'd walk with sixty before tip out on that table (if their service was stellar). I was hoping for fifteen, maybe eighteen percent. Sure, I'm lowballing myself but I'd rather be mildly surprised than be sorely disappointed.
What was the tip? Twenty-five dollars even.
You do the math. I'm no whiz, but I would say I was shorted there just a bit.
The first things to reel through my mind were, "Was I that bad? Did I forget something? Was I neglectful? Was it the food they disliked?"
There's a million and one things that could have gone wrong, and we don't like to immediately do it, but sometimes we jump to the foolproof and clearly-obvious-because-we're-just-judgemental-assholes, "It's because they're foreign" or "It's because they're X."
I quickly put an end to my poutiness and sulking, realizing I still had four other tables that needed to be checked on because where I lost money on one, I had money to make on another.
Low and behold.
A call came in several days later with a woman on the other end asking for me. She was concerned, mentioning I had waited on her earlier that week. She continued on to explain the wonderful service I had given her, her husband and friend, and how absolutely awful she felt when her credit statement had shown the tip her husband left was less that satisfactory. This guest apologized again and again, asserting that I was supposed to have received 25%, not the measly $25.
Blown away, I thanked her for calling and that her phonecall back was enough. It isn't everyday that someone calls in to admit a mistake. Two days later she left a small note at our front hostess stand, thanking me once again and hoping to have me as a server in the nearby future. Enclosed in the sealed envelope was an additional $60.
Rarely.
I repeat, rarely does that ever happen. Shocked, it just reminded me that stereotypes are a bunch of bull. No person should be preconceived as guilty for someone else's shortcomings. Additionally, not every shorted tip was done purposefully. Accidents, just as a server could screw up an order, happen. She not only went out of her way to apologize, but also corrected and even overcompensated for the mishap.
People like her make me grateful, and also tell me to hit the brakes on making groups of X such a lump sum. There are other cultures, races, countries that simply do not see eye-to-eye on the matter of tipping or dining ettiquette in general, and that's just the way the world works. You're not going to win them all. This isn't a race. I need to slow down, appreciate people for who they are, and never assume. Yes, we all do know what they say about that, thank you cliches.
And THANK YOU, "Mrs. I" for more than what you should have left.
For proving me wrong, and teaching me a lesson on goodness.
You are an honest person and truly, deeply appreciated.
-Malia Etienette
Photo Credit:
Armed and Angry: www.imfdb.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Earl
"It's Not Obama's Fault You're a Jerk": www.patheos.com
"Tipping Archives": www.madamenoire.com
"Prize Giveaway Tee": www.mindfieldlive.com
Tips Article: www.grownsoul.com
The Giving Tree Cover: www.allisoncherrybooks.com
"Give Thanks Every Day": www.greatist.com
Stereotyping picture: www.madamenoire.com
Friday, August 23, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
MINE
Always the most exhiliarating moment for a server... and least favorite moment for the dining guests.... dropping off the check.
It's the time when we are one step away from bidding you and your lovely guests adieu, forget us worrying about if you even tip the full twenty percent or not. Sometimes we are just happy to be getting rid of one more table, sending you out the door, parting ways-- especially if yours is the one with the child who smashed all of their food under the table, if you were uneccesarily rude, or if you ran our asses off when we could have done ten trips in one.
Last night I had a table, who in the middle of my opening spiel, cut me off to tell me, "Before you get any further, let me tell you that we will not tolerate the shitty service we just received over at the last place we were at. You better have a personality."
Well. I do, and at that exact moment it was about to flip into "bitch mode"...if my words and actions didn't have any weight on my job, I would quipped, "Before you cut me off again, let me tell you that I hope you aren't as hoity and demanding as my last guests."
At that instant, I wished nothing more than to drop off the check-- for the waters-- and tell them to kick rocks.
She was looking up at me with a flash in her eyes, and yet somehow still looking down her nose at me. The woman was mid-to-late-thirties and very well..."maintained" I suppose. I glanced down at her hands and saw no wedding ring. No surprise there; if she was willing to snap at a complete stranger the way she just did to me, she probably took a hot dump on anyone she ever dated and sent them running for the hills. It's the instantly recognizable case of crazy woman syndome (yes, we're all a little crazy, some definitely more than others), but I believe I've seen this before:
So instead of satisfying my growing frustration, I killed her with kindness. Kissed her ass a bit.
On the other half of the restaurant, my coworker Britney* was dealing with a much different table. Super nice until Britney approached with the check.
At The Valley, it is simply policy that we set down the check at the front of the table when service is through unless someone requests to receive it over the rest of the guests. This part of the policy is the "first come, first serve".
As Britney presented the check, two of the guests dove for an interception while the book was still aloft in mid-air, Britney's hand still attached to it. Like savage beasts fighting over prey, all civility goes out the window.
This, as servers look at it, is just plain rude. We come to work to serve food and drinks, not to be mauled and assaulted by guests leaping for ownership of the check.
Not only that, but then we have to shoulder the hard feelings by those who wanted to pay but lost out to another guest. Don't fling your shit at me you monkey, look at your friend who snatched the bill out of your hands because you paid last time.
Where is your grace, where is the class?!
When Britney complained to me, I remembered a time a gentleman nearly took my thumb off as it was stuck in the checkbook. Plain hostile.
As my mother always put it, when you go out to a restaurant it as though you are eating in someone else's house. Use your manners. Be polite. This is The Valley, not a barnyard. This rule of thumb should be in effect from the second you walk in to the time that you leave. As a server, it is my responsibility to be kind and courteous at all times no matter how unpleasant those I serve may be to me. As a guest, even though you are being served and are to be having a wonderful experience, it is a two-way road. We don't care how much money you throw at us (even though money is the root of all evil), it is not worth us having our teeth kicked in.
Golden Rule. You got it.
-Malia Etienette
Photo Credit:
"The Last Pastrami": www.windsorstar.com
Dropping off Check: www.capitaladvancesolutions.com
"Is Taylor Swift that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend?": www.thetrendguys.com
"Lifestyle- Daily ISO Los Angeles": www.dailyiso.com
"Holy Smokes!...": www.cavemancircus.com
"Bitch Mode": www.someecards.com
Monkey: http://degrassitv.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/monkey.jpg?w=540
"Lioness Attacks": http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1084701.1337980698!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/gallery_635/lioness-attacks.jpg
"It's Your Birthday": www.someecards.com
It's the time when we are one step away from bidding you and your lovely guests adieu, forget us worrying about if you even tip the full twenty percent or not. Sometimes we are just happy to be getting rid of one more table, sending you out the door, parting ways-- especially if yours is the one with the child who smashed all of their food under the table, if you were uneccesarily rude, or if you ran our asses off when we could have done ten trips in one.
Last night I had a table, who in the middle of my opening spiel, cut me off to tell me, "Before you get any further, let me tell you that we will not tolerate the shitty service we just received over at the last place we were at. You better have a personality."
Well. I do, and at that exact moment it was about to flip into "bitch mode"...if my words and actions didn't have any weight on my job, I would quipped, "Before you cut me off again, let me tell you that I hope you aren't as hoity and demanding as my last guests."
At that instant, I wished nothing more than to drop off the check-- for the waters-- and tell them to kick rocks.
She was looking up at me with a flash in her eyes, and yet somehow still looking down her nose at me. The woman was mid-to-late-thirties and very well..."maintained" I suppose. I glanced down at her hands and saw no wedding ring. No surprise there; if she was willing to snap at a complete stranger the way she just did to me, she probably took a hot dump on anyone she ever dated and sent them running for the hills. It's the instantly recognizable case of crazy woman syndome (yes, we're all a little crazy, some definitely more than others), but I believe I've seen this before:
So instead of satisfying my growing frustration, I killed her with kindness. Kissed her ass a bit.
On the other half of the restaurant, my coworker Britney* was dealing with a much different table. Super nice until Britney approached with the check.
At The Valley, it is simply policy that we set down the check at the front of the table when service is through unless someone requests to receive it over the rest of the guests. This part of the policy is the "first come, first serve".
As Britney presented the check, two of the guests dove for an interception while the book was still aloft in mid-air, Britney's hand still attached to it. Like savage beasts fighting over prey, all civility goes out the window.
This, as servers look at it, is just plain rude. We come to work to serve food and drinks, not to be mauled and assaulted by guests leaping for ownership of the check.
Not only that, but then we have to shoulder the hard feelings by those who wanted to pay but lost out to another guest. Don't fling your shit at me you monkey, look at your friend who snatched the bill out of your hands because you paid last time.
Where is your grace, where is the class?!
When Britney complained to me, I remembered a time a gentleman nearly took my thumb off as it was stuck in the checkbook. Plain hostile.
As my mother always put it, when you go out to a restaurant it as though you are eating in someone else's house. Use your manners. Be polite. This is The Valley, not a barnyard. This rule of thumb should be in effect from the second you walk in to the time that you leave. As a server, it is my responsibility to be kind and courteous at all times no matter how unpleasant those I serve may be to me. As a guest, even though you are being served and are to be having a wonderful experience, it is a two-way road. We don't care how much money you throw at us (even though money is the root of all evil), it is not worth us having our teeth kicked in.
Golden Rule. You got it.
-Malia Etienette
Photo Credit:
"The Last Pastrami": www.windsorstar.com
Dropping off Check: www.capitaladvancesolutions.com
"Is Taylor Swift that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend?": www.thetrendguys.com
"Lifestyle- Daily ISO Los Angeles": www.dailyiso.com
"Holy Smokes!...": www.cavemancircus.com
"Bitch Mode": www.someecards.com
Monkey: http://degrassitv.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/monkey.jpg?w=540
"Lioness Attacks": http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1084701.1337980698!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/gallery_635/lioness-attacks.jpg
"It's Your Birthday": www.someecards.com
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