Good evening. I hope I find you in good tidings. Tonight I went to work at the restaurant. First time since last Saturday. That's right nearly an entire week since the last time I worked. Well all I can say was that I was refreshed and ready to take on the hungry people. Except to my dismay it was a quiet Friday night! Geez! I was making jokes and the people were looking at me as though I had plopped into their presence from a UFO or some other planet. I checked my microphone to make sure it was on and I just got a lot of feedback. People, do your server a favor and try to find them entertaining when it's obvious they're trying to make the effort. You may not find their "lame over used" jokes funny, but for the sake that they do this job 8 hours (sometimes less, sometimes more) a day just give them a slight smile, maybe even a lift and lower of your shoulders....maybe even a quiet chuckle...something to show that you've noticed them.
Don't get me wrong..I had great people in my section tonight. Only one table that stands out that I wanted to punch. Oh yes, servers want to punch people. There is one guy I work with in particular when ever he has small children in his section who scream, cry, talk, blink, breath he gets very violent thinking. Commonly he can be heard saying, "If I had sharpened my toothbrush today I would stab someone with it." Or "I'm going to punch that baby." Remember, this isn't me...this is me quoting someone I work with. I'm quite the opposite. When a baby comes into my section you can't get me away from their table. I have been know (in my Humpty days) to take the child for a walk with me around the restaurant to help calm them down. Babies are a happy time for me. Not like my co-worker where he would be happy to have a child-free zone for the entire shift.
My one table tonight that stood out as being the one I would like to punch happened like this. First they weren't even in my section. They were in section 1, but found out that they had another person joining them and the table they were at was only a 2 seater table. First mistake, calling over a busy server(me) to fix the problem when the hostess is only 2 feet away. Second mistake, asking to move tables AFTER you've not only ordered your drinks but your entire meal including starters and entrees. This does not make your new server(me) happy when now in the midst of my already 5 tables on the go, I have to figure out what you're having to drink, what are your starters, what you have as an entree so I make sure you have the proper set ups and don't forget to let the "expo" know that you're no longer at table # 1 you're now at table #3 so if I'm not around when the food is ready they know where to run it. Oh and also that I'm their server now and not server #1. Honestly I think we should be able to just say, tough luck you're stuck at this table now...but "customer gets what they want" gets in the way of that thinking. But I don't think they should move people out of that "servers" area. This particular restaurant when the one particular manager is on has done this to me 3 times. The first and third time was not a big deal with a party of 2 or 3 but the second time this happened it was with a table of 16. That was hectic and completely stressful. Anyways, we won't get into that now. Let me finish about why I wanted to punch this particular table. Where did I leave off....oh yes...they have now moved into my section...I've gotten the information from server #1 and everything is ready to go. No biggy. I go down to their table with their drinks and they inform me that they have the order for the person coming and can it come out with their meals. Yeah, no problem. I go and tell the kitchen and it's all set. Their person arrives at the same time their meals are being delivered. Perfect timing. I ask if she would like something to drink, yes a diet pepsi....(seriously people when you've ordered fries and chicken fingers you may as well splurge and get the regular pepsi). As we are having this discussion I can hear the one guy telling the girl who put the pizza down that there was something wrong with it. (This is where it gets hairy because I wasn't the original server and I wasn't the one to take the food out so I wasn't able to inspect the "special instructions" before it left the kitchen.) So his cheese wasn't melted like he had asked. Ok, no prob I will get the kitchen to put it back in the oven to melt the cheese. I take it back and discuss it with the cooks...."but that's how it's suppose to be" they protest, "I know, but they've requested it to be melted"...."You're going to have to upcharge them for extra cheese"...."No, cause you're just melting what on there already for them...no extra cheese is to be added"..."Fine"..."Thank you". (Don't forget when you give your server a hard time, they're getting it on the other end (from the kitchen) as well. ) I head out to the table to take them their pizza when the busser comes up to me and says "you're table #3 wants more sauce." Instead of asking her my question, before I ring it in I go to the table..."I hear you want more sauce, it's an extra $1, is that ok?" "NO, that's not ok. Can I just have some for the inconvience of waiting for our pizza?" I was like, um no...I'm sorry but the servers don't make up the rules...we just follow them. I don't know why it's an extra dollar...but the only way to get more sauce is through the kitchen. If they don't have a bill for it, they don't make it. It's that simple. (This is where my punching reaction comes into play).
1. People always want something for free.
2. When people use a rude tone it really turns my care factor off. - Normally I'm very caring and want to help...it really is up to the server if they "get anything" for their troubles.
Let's just say I felt bad because of the confusion of switching sections and the pizza not coming out right I threw in the extra sauce. However, had I known they were still going to complain about the "normal upcharge for extra sauce" to the manager I would have charged them. That's right...they still complained about the charge when they DIDN'T get charged for it! That is punch them entitlement! My manager came up to me and said, "Michelle, what was wrong with this table?" And I told her, "Oh, their pizza came out without the cheese being melted so I got them to re-bake it". "No," she continued, "about the extra charge for more sauce". So I told her what happened and she rolled her eyes and said, "some people".
Now lets recap a happy friendly table I experienced tonight so you don't think I only have negative things to say about serving. If it was all negative I don't think I would have continued in this field for the last 13 years. I had quite a few really nice tables. My first table of the night in fact was the most friendly, happy table. They were from out of town doing a shopping day. Not only were they shopping for themselves but picking up orders of things for other people in their town. They were so happy to do their friends a favor and expressed to me the joy they got out of doing it. I find people are people and most just want to tell their story. I hear many life stories and journeys and learn from them. I've gained many friends and "regulars" over the years that I have grown to appreciate and love. You build a lot of relationships as a server (as long as you're open to it). However, within the next year or so I plan to hang up my apron and take on a new journey.
So the moral of the story....
Don't mess with the people who handle your food. (haha...just kidding)....but seriously! (In some cases....never mind you don't want to know!) The real moral, if you get something for free don't complain about it!
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